US marks its 250th birthday with fireworks, flyovers and extreme weather

The United States of America marked its 250th birthday with fireworks, flyovers, some intense weather across the country, much of which has simmered under an unforgiving heat wave for days.

“The American dream is back,” US President Donald Trump told a cheering crowd at a delayed rally on the National Mall in Washington before the reputed largest fireworks display ever in the US lit up the night.

The 4 July federal holiday commemorates the 13 US colonies signing the Declaration of Independence in 1776 to end British rule.

The sharply divided country has seen Trump criticised for making himself central to the milestone and politicising it by launching Freedom 250 celebrations, which are separate from congressionally established America 250 events.

Trump’s remarks – where he hit on recent political themes of rejecting communism, Save America Act legislation he favors and the right to bear arms – wrapped up just before midnight at the Freedom 250 event.

“Long live the cause of independence,” he said. “May it reign forever and ever and ever, we will always be on top, we will never let our country fall, we will always be the best.”

Upon closing, he told the crowd, “this is only the dawn of the golden age of America” with its destiny “written by God”.

The grande finale of the fireworks show was marked by a massive flurry of blasts – reaching a much anticipated crescendo. As it concluded around 1am, the small crowd on Capitol Hill cheered and rapidly started heading for the exits in a light rain.

The celebration, which included a flyover – one featuring the new Air Force One jet – a concert – as well as the speech and fireworks was delayed by a thunderstorm that forced an evacuation of the National Mall in the early evening.

Freedom 250 asked guests in the area attending Salute to America, the Great American State Fair and Fifa fan zone events to seek temporary shelter in a nearby buildings. Throughout the day, the capital had broiled under 100F (37C) temperatures – part of a larger heat wave enveloping the eastern US.

Also in Washington, about 400 members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front were seen carrying US flags while marching in unison through the streets of the capital.

Videos posted to social media and the group’s own Telegram channel showed the masked, uniformed members marching near the Capitol building and Union Station, the city’s main passenger rail hub.

The group was founded in 2017 following violence at the Unite the Right rally in Virginia, breaking off from another group.

As part of the bipartisan America 250 celebrations, communities across the country took part in “America’s Block Party” and hosted local gatherings. Musicians also performed at US landmarks, including Ne-Yo and Mary J Blige in New York City’s Times Square, The Smashing Pumpkins and Chaka Khan in Los Angeles, and Christina Aguilera and Will Smith in Philadelphia.

In Philadelphia – considered the “birthplace of America” because the Declaration was signed there – members of Congress gathered at Independence Hall this week to mark the day of the vote for American independence in 1776.

A special flyover took place over the city of Brotherly Love which hosted France’s match against Paraguay in the football World Cup.

America 250 organisers also buried a time capsule to be opened in 200 years, that included a Coca-Cola bottle, signed copy of the Constitution, and artifacts from the 50 states and US territories.

At Mount Vernon in Virginia – first US President George Washington’s estate – a naturalisation ceremony welcomed 150 people from 50 countries as US citizens. The new Americans took an oath of allegiance promising to, among other things, obey and defend the US Constitution.

New York City hosted its annual hot dog-eating contest, a tradition since 1972, where Joey Chestnut won his 18th title in the contest. Chestnut ate 66 hot dogs in 10 minutes, according to CBS, the BBC’s US news partner. In the women’s competition, Miki Sudo finished 38 and three-quarters of a hot dog to claim her 12th contest title.

Americans tried to keep cool during celebrations during a sweltering heat wave on the US East Coast that cancelled festivities earlier this week.

On Friday, organisers of the National Park Service’s Independence Day Parade in Washington DC cancelled the annual event over ​safety concerns. Some celebrations also were shut down in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland – and as far west as Colorado.

The highest temperatures were expected in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey, where the mercury could reach 108F (42C).

On the National Mall in Washington volunteers handed out bottles of water from buckets of ice before sunshine gave way to thunderstorms.

Nearly 750,000 went without power in the east due to extreme weather with another 150,000 in New Jersey, according to tracker Power Outage.

Energy company DTE said that severe weather, including winds over 60mph (97km/h) on Friday evening in Michigan, left more than 350,000 homes in the state without power.

Other states affected include Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, New York and Wisconsin.

All four living former US presidents also shared messages to celebrate the milestone. President Joe Biden, Trump’s predecessor, recalled the Independence Declaration’s edict that all people are created equal.

“We chose that path 250 years ago but that’s where the work began, not where it ended,” he said before warning that the nation’s promise of equality for all was still a work in progress.

The country’s first black president, Barack Obama, reshared excerpts of a recent speech he made at his presidential museum’s opening.

“There’s more to do to fulfil the nation’s founding ideals,” he said. “Every generation must take up the unfinished work of the last and carry it further – protecting what’s right, fixing what’s wrong, and making our union a little more perfect.”

The 43rd president George W Bush said “the next 250 years require Americans to be citizens, not spectators”.

Americans need to “take an active interest in the health and welfare of our country and the communities in which they live”, he said.

His predecessor Bill Clinton took a moment to comment on US politics today.

“Today, we celebrate this milestone amid another period of deep division, renewed questions about America’s future and role in the world, and serious threats to our own institutions and to our democracy itself,” the 42nd president said.

Kwasi Asiedu contributed to this report.