President Donald Trump is getting what he wants for the nation’s birthday: a celebration featuring fireworks, fighter jets and tanks that makes him the center of attention. Trump will speak from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial Thursday evening, remaking the capital’s July 4th festivities into a display of military might mixed with presidential politics. The White House said Trump’s message won’t be political — Trump is calling the speech a “Salute to America” — but it comes as the 2020 campaign is heating up. “Today, we come together as one nation,” Trump said in an excerpt of his speech released by the White House. “We celebrate our history, our people, and the heroes who proudly defend our flag — the brave men and women of the United States military!” The city hosted a parade earlier in the day before the evening program on the National Mall, which is scheduled to include flyovers by fighter jets, bombers and even Air Force One, and the Trump speech. Trump has promised the “show of a lifetime,” but it may not go entirely the president’s way. Afternoon rains and forecasts of scattered thunderstorms prompted a flash-flood watch alert. And some aides privately fear crowds won’t meet the president’s expectations — evoking his 2017 inauguration. Protesters have a permit to display an inflatable version of the president that depicts him as a baby in a diaper with small hands. A similar blimp has greeted Trump on trips to London, but the Washington version won’t
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