After a storm-related delay, US President Donald Trump took the stage on the National Mall on Saturday to deliver a campaign-style speech to mark the country's 250th anniversary.
Trump said he would have been willing to wait longer if necessary. "There's no way we can be deterred," he said, shortly after taking the stage at 11:15 pm ET (0315 GMT on Sunday).
Authorities allowed the crowd to return to an open field near the Washington Monument where Trump was due to speak, after ordering a weather-related evacuation that forced spectators to shelter in nearby museums and government buildings for a few hours.
Visitors had waited hours to get into the event, contending with stepped-up security and temperatures that reached 39 degrees Celsius. The record-breaking heat wave forced the cancellation of several parades and other events in the area.
Past presidents have generally avoided in-person appearances at July 4 celebrations, but Trump has blurred the line between official commemoration and campaign-style politics.
The Trump administration's Freedom 250 group has largely sidelined a nonpartisan body set up in 2016 to handle the 250th anniversary and has fenced off much of the 2.4-km National Mall for a "Great American State Fair" featuring attractions such as a Ferris wheel alongside displays by conservative groups and defense contractors.
Freedom 250 says the fair aims to showcase the people and innovations that make the US "the greatest nation on Earth".
Several Democratic-led states declined to send delegations, and many performers scheduled to appear dropped out, citing concerns about partisanship. Trump opened the event with a rally on June 24.
Crowds were sparse at first but have swelled in recent days, forcing visitors to wait in entrance lines that stretched several blocks. Gift shops and restaurants at the Smithsonian Institution museums near the event reported near-record sales on Friday, said Frank DiGiovine, a Smithsonian executive.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that a majority of Americans, including three-quarters of Democrats and half of Republicans, think the events celebrating the country's 250th anniversary have grown too political.
Trump has sought to remake wide swaths of the capital city ahead of the 250th celebration, with mixed results. Many fountains and statues have been renovated, but problems have beset a much-touted $15 million renovation of the Lincoln Memorial's Reflecting Pool. Security cameras and soldiers now stand watch over its peeling paint and algae-fouled waters.
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