A national holiday dedicated to Independence Day will be filled with parades, concerts, holiday dinner and, of course, fireworks. Boston, Philadelphia, new York and other cities across the country conducted a massive celebration. Edition 23 Foxnews gathered the main events of the day.

Macy’s fireworks over the East river in new York is one of the largest in the country. Spectacular fireworks and concert will be broadcast by NBC. Will perform international stars: Luke Bryan, Maren Morris, brad Paisley, Jennifer Hudson, Ciara, Khalid and Derek Hough.

Boston celebrates independence Day with the traditional procession, a concert of the Boston POPs and the fireworks.

The celebrations began on Thursday morning at city hall. Then the marchers went to the Old Granary Burial Ground, where are buried Samuel Adams, John Hancock and other prominent leaders.

They will also make a stop at the old Parliament of the state, where a member of the Ancient and honorable artillery company will read from the balcony the Declaration of independence, as it was in 1776.

The procession will end at Faneuil hall, where the Dean of Boston University, Kenneth Elmore will speak on the traditions relating to 1773.

In the evening residents expects fireworks over the Charles river and a performance of the Boston Pops orchestra.

The country’s oldest fourth of July celebration was held in the city of Bristol, state of Rhode island. The events began on the day of the flag and ended with the fourth of July parade, which was attended by tens of thousands of people. The celebration of this day was first held in this seaside town in 1785 and since then is held annually.

Traditional parade in Washington was just a warm-up, because all the attention paid to the main festive event of the district of Columbia — the President’s speech and military parade.

For decades, independence Day in Washington celebrated with a parade along Constitution Avenue and on the lawn of the Capitol with music by the National Symphony orchestra and fireworks at the monument to George Washington.

This year the President trump is scheduled to speak in front of people at 18:30 et. He also will bring tanks and military aircraft at evening parade.

PBS will broadcast the concert on the West lawn of the Capitol with the participation of leading John Stamos and artists such as Carole king, Vanessa Williams, Colbie Caillat, Lee Brice and the O jays.

Early Thursday morning, the President congratulated the Americans with a holiday in his microblog on Twitter: “Happy fourth of July!”

“People come from everywhere to join us today at the festival, which promises to be one of the most ambitious in the history of our country, – he wrote. – “Salute to America” event, which will be held whole day at the Lincoln memorial, and its culmination will be a massive military parade with the participation of the most modern and advanced aircraft in the world.”

The Department of defense on Wednesday confirmed that the acting head of Department, mark Esper and the Chairman of the joint chiefs of staff General Joseph Dunford took the President’s invitation to participate in the parade.

The event will be attended by other senior officials of the US defense Department. In addition, the White house has also allocated 5,000 tickets for the event military personnel and their families.

Across the country in the Independence Day will be held more than two dozen naturalization ceremonies to welcome new Americans. The ceremony will be held at the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and at the home of George Washington at mount Vernon, Virginia.

Vice-President Mike Pence celebrated independence Day, taking 44 of immigrants from 26 countries in the “American family” at the naturalization ceremony in the capital of the country.

At Legoland in winter haven, Florida, the children create a giant flag of the United States of LEGO. There also will be a great holiday fireworks.

In Philadelphia the celebration began with a parade near Independence Hall and will conclude with a concert featuring Meghan Trainor and Jennifer Hudson on the Boulevard of Benjamin Franklin. The annual fireworks show will begin after the concert at the Philadelphia art Museum.

In Connecticut the Independence Day is celebrated very peculiar. Thousands of spectators watched the annual parade Boom Box. According to tradition, participants and spectators are the radios that are configured on the same local station.

The parade’s roots go back to 1986, when the city couldn’t find a band for the annual parade for memorial Day. The organizers have appealed for help to the radio station WILI-AM. Officials of the station said that it’s too late to organise for this festival, but began to plan the celebration of the fourth of July, and so was born the tradition.

Another unusual tradition of Independence Day celebrations has taken root on long island. Here Joey chestnut and Miki Sudo defended their title and won again at the annual contest of eating hot dogs.

Chestnut ate 71 sausage and bun, while Sudo ate 31 hot dogs. Both held on to their records, but easily took home trophies, beating other participants. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump celebrated the story of America as “the greatest political journey in human history” in a Fourth of July commemoration before a soggy but cheering crowd of spectators, many of them invited, on the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial. Supporters welcomed his tribute to the U.S. military while protesters assailed him for putting himself center stage on a holiday devoted to unity.

As rain fell on him, Trump called on Americans to "stay true to our cause" during a program that adhered to patriotic themes and hailed an eclectic mix of history's heroes, from the armed forces, space, civil rights and other endeavors of American life.

He largely stuck to his script, avoiding diversions into his agenda or re-election campaign. But in one exception, he vowed, "Very soon, we will plant the American flag on Mars," actually a distant goal not likely to be achieved until late in the 2020s if even then.

A late afternoon downpour drenched the capital's Independence Day crowds and Trump's speech unfolded in occasional rain. The warplanes and presidential aircraft he had summoned conducted their flyovers as planned, capped by the Navy Blue Angels aerobatics team.

By adding his own, one-hour "Salute to America" production to capital festivities that typically draw hundreds of thousands anyway, Trump became the first president in nearly seven decades to address a crowd at the National Mall on the Fourth of July.

Protesters objecting to what they saw as his co-opting of the holiday inflated a roly-poly balloon depicting Trump as an angry, diaper-clad baby.

Trump set aside a historic piece of real estate — a stretch of the Mall from the Lincoln Monument to the midpoint of the reflecting pool — for a mix of invited military members, Republican and Trump campaign donors and other bigwigs. It's where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I have a dream" speech, Barack Obama and Trump held inaugural concerts and protesters swarmed into the water when supporters of Richard Nixon put on a July 4, 1970, celebration, with the president sending taped remarks from California.

Aides to the crowd-obsessed Trump fretted about the prospect of empty seats at his event, said a person familiar with the planning who was not authorized to be identified. Aides scrambled in recent days to distribute tickets and mobilize the Trump and GOP social media accounts to encourage participation for an event hastily arranged and surrounded with confusion.

Back at the White House, Trump tweeted an aerial photo showing an audience that filled both sides of the memorial's reflecting pool and stretched to the Washington Monument. "A great crowd of tremendous Patriots this evening, all the way back to the Washington Monument!" he said.

Many who filed into the sprawling VIP section said they got their free tickets from members of Congress or from friends or neighbors who couldn't use theirs. Outside that zone, a diverse mix of visitors, locals, veterans, tour groups, immigrant families and more milled about, some drawn by Trump, some by curiosity, some by the holiday's regular activities along the Mall.

Protesters earlier made their voices heard in sweltering heat by the Washington Monument, along the traditional parade route and elsewhere, while the VIP section at the reflecting pool served as something of a buffer for Trump's event.

In the shadow of the Washington Monument hours before Trump's speech, the anti-war organization Codepink erected a 20-foot tall "Trump baby" balloon to protest what activists saw as his intrusion in Independence Day and a focus on military might that they associate with martial regimes.

"We think that he is making this about himself and it's really a campaign rally," said Medea Benjamin, the organization's co-director. "We think that he's a big baby. ... He's erratic, he's prone to tantrums, he doesn't understand the consequences of his actions. And so this is a great symbol of how we feel about our president."

The balloon remained tied down at the Mall because park officials restricted the group's permission to move it or fill it with helium, Benjamin said.

Protesters also handed out small Trump-baby balloons on sticks. Molly King of La Porte, Indiana, a 13-year-old Trump supporter in sunglasses and a "Make America Great Again" hat, happily came away with one.

"They're making a big stink about it but it's actually pretty cute," she said. "I mean, why not love your president as you'd love a baby?"

A small crowd gathered to take pictures with the big balloon, which drew Trump supporters and detractors.

"Even though everybody has different opinions," said Kevin Malton, a Trump supporter from Middlesboro, Kentucky, "everybody's getting along."

But Daniela Guray, a 19-year-old from Chicago who held a "Dump Trump" sign, said she was subjected to a racial epithet while walking along the Constitution Avenue parade route and told to go home.

She said she did not come to the Mall to protest but ended up doing so. "I started seeing all the tanks with all the protests and that's when I said, 'Wait, this is not an actual Fourth of July,'" she said. "Trump is making it his day rather than the Fourth of July."

Trump had sounded a defensive note Wednesday, tweeting that the cost "will be very little compared to what it is worth." But he glossed over a host of expenses associated with the display of military might, including flying in planes and tanks and other vehicles to Washington by rail.

Not since 1951, when President Harry Truman spoke before a large gathering on the Washington Monument grounds to mark the 175th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, has a commander in chief made an Independence Day speech to a sizable crowd on the Mall.

Pete Buttigieg, one of the Democrats running for president, said, "This business of diverting money and military assets to use them as a kind of prop, to prop up a presidential ego, is not reflecting well on our country." Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is a Navy Reserve veteran who served in Afghanistan in 2014.

Two groups, the National Parks Conservation Foundation and Democracy Forward, want the Interior Department's internal watchdog to investigate what they say may be a "potentially unlawful decision to divert" national parks money to Trump's "spectacle."

Trump has longed for a public display of U.S. military prowess ever since he watched a two-hour procession of French military tanks and fighter jets in Paris on Bastille Day in July 2017.

Washington has held an Independence Day celebration for decades, featuring a parade along Constitution Avenue, a concert on the Capitol lawn with music by the National Symphony Orchestra and fireworks beginning at dusk near the Washington Monument.

Trump altered the lineup by adding his speech, moving the fireworks closer to the Lincoln Memorial and summoning the tanks and warplanes.

Amid all the theatrics, Trump did pay tribute to the reason for the holiday — the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. "With a single sheet of parchment and 56 signatures," Trump said, "America began the greatest political journey in human history."

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, CALVIN WOODWARD and LYNN BERRY Associated Press. Kali Robinson, Zeke Miller, Kevin Freking, Matthew Daly and Ellen Knickmeyer contributed to this report. </s> President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Karen Pence and others stand as the US Army Band performs and the US Navy Blue Angels flyover at the end of an Independence Day celebration in front of the Lincoln Memorial, Thursday, July 4, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump celebrated “the greatest political journey in human history” Thursday in a Fourth of July commemoration before a soggy, cheering crowd of spectators, many of them invited, on the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial. Supporters welcomed his tribute to the U.S. military while protesters assailed him for putting himself center stage on a holiday devoted to unity.

Trump called on Americans to “stay true to our cause” in a program that adhered to patriotic themes and hailed an eclectic mix of history’s heroes, from the armed forces, space, civil rights and other endeavors of American life.

He largely stuck to his script, avoiding diversions into his agenda or re-election campaign. But in one exception, he vowed, “Very soon, we will plant the American flag on Mars,” actually a distant goal not likely to be achieved until late in the 2020s if even then.

A late afternoon downpour drenched the capital’s Independence Day crowds and presaged an evening of possible on-and-off storms. But Trump’s speech unfolded in occasional rain, and the warplanes and presidential aircraft he had summoned conducted their flyovers as planned, capped by the Navy Blue Angels aerobatics team.

By adding his own, one-hour “Salute to America” production to capital festivities that typically draw hundreds of thousands anyway, Trump became the first president in nearly seven decades to address a crowd at the National Mall on Independence Day.

Protesters objecting to what they saw as his co-opting of the holiday inflated a roly-poly balloon depicting Trump as an angry, diaper-clad baby.

Trump set aside a historic piece of real estate — a stretch of the Mall from the Lincoln Monument to the midpoint of the reflecting pool — for a mix of invited military members, Republican and Trump campaign donors and other bigwigs. It’s where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I have a dream” speech, Barack Obama and Trump held inaugural concerts and protesters swarmed into the water when supporters of Richard Nixon put on a July 4, 1970, celebration, with the president sending taped remarks from California. </s> WASHINGTON — A reality TV host at heart, President Donald Trump is promising the "show of a lifetime" for the hundreds of thousands of revelers who flock to the National Mall every year on the Fourth of July. The tanks are in place for the display of military muscle, and protesters are ready to make their voices heard.

It's been nearly seven decades since a president spoke there on Independence Day. The U.S. was at war in Korea when Harry Truman addressed a large gathering on the Washington Monument grounds, marking the 175th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

There's no such historical marker Thursday for Trump, who for the past two years has sought a moment to orchestrate a display of America's military prowess.

RELATED: Tanks will be part of July Fourth DC celebration

He's calling his event a "Salute to America," honoring the armed forces, and he'll speak at the Lincoln Memorial in front of a ticket-only, VIP crowd of Republican donors, administration and campaign officials, family members and those who flock to see him or protest what they see as a divisive intrusion on a traditionally unifying national holiday.

Trump sounded a defensive note Wednesday, tweeting that cost "will be very little compared to what it is worth."

"We own the planes, we have the pilots, the airport is right next door (Andrews), all we need is the fuel," he said, referring to Maryland's Joint Base Andrews, home for some of the planes that are to fly over the Mall on Thursday. "We own the tanks and all. Fireworks are donated by two of the greats."

Trump glossed over the expense of shipping tanks and fighting vehicles to Washington by rail and guarding them for several days, and other costs.

Some of the president's supporters welcomed Trump's stamp on the holiday.

Rachel McKenna, a Trump supporter from McKinney, Texas, said her relatives have served in the military and she thought it was important to say "'We love you guys, we appreciate everything you do,' and I love the fact I can see that," as she pointed to the Bradley fighting vehicle positioned near the Lincoln Memorial.

"I've never ever seen one," she said. "I just think it's so cool."

Under White House direction, the Pentagon was arranging for an Air Force B-2 stealth bomber and other warplanes to conduct flyovers. There will be Navy F-35 and F-18 fighter jets, the Navy Blue Angels aerobatics team, Army and Coast Guard helicopters and Marine V-22 Ospreys.

The White House referred questions about the cost of the military participation to the Pentagon, which said it did not have the answer.

The Air Force said it costs $122,311 an hour to fly a B-2 bomber, which is making the round trip from its home at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. Officials said the flight will be considered a training event, with the cost already budgeted. The per-hour flying cost of the F-22 fighter is $65,128.

Two Bradley fighting vehicles were in place Wednesday at the Lincoln Memorial, where Trump will speak. In addition, two 60-ton Army Abrams battle tanks were sent to Washington by rail to be positioned on or near the National Mall, to the dismay of District of Columbia officials.

The presidential Air Force One and Marine One aircraft are also slated to make aerial appearances.

Kevin Donahue, District of Columbia deputy mayor for public safety, told The Associated Press the city expects the federal government to pay for any damage to streets or bridges from moving the tanks. Civil engineers will assess roads and bridges after July 4 to determine if there's been damage.

Donahue said the city doesn't have the jurisdiction to reject the use of tanks and other heavy equipment.

In a separate tweet Wednesday, Trump promised the Lincoln Memorial program "will be the show of a lifetime!" White House officials have stressed that Trump's remarks will be patriotic, but the president often finds it difficult to stay on any kind of script.

But Tracie Lenihan of Spokane, Washington, an independent, said she didn't understand why military equipment is part of the festivities. "I think it cost a lot of money and I'm not sure what it really has to do with the Fourth of July," she said. "I don't hate it. I'm just confused."

Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the Codepink anti-war group, said use of the Bradley fighting vehicles reflected the "politicization of July Fourth and the militarization of July Fourth and we resent this."

"We want it to be a holiday where people are having their picnics and they're watching their fireworks and it's all peaceful and united," she said.

Instead, her group will be fielding a balloon depicting Trump as an angry, diaper-clad baby. But because of flight restrictions, officials would not let the group pump it with helium to make it fly higher and be more visible.

Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., who is among lawmakers overseeing the Interior Department, which has jurisdiction over the National Mall and federal parks, said it was "absolutely outrageous" that the administration will use park money to help defray Thursday's event costs. The National Park Service plans to use nearly $2.5 million intended to help improve parks nationwide, The Washington Post reported late Tuesday, citing anonymous sources.

"These fees are not a slush fund for this administration to use at will," McCollum said in a statement. She promised a congressional hearing.

Trump and the event's organizers could be on the hook to reimburse the government millions of dollars if he goes into campaign mode, in violation of federal appropriations law and the Hatch Act, which bars politicking on government time, said Walter Shaub, who left the Office of Government Ethics in 2017 after clashing with the White House over ethics and disclosure issues.

"There's not a history of disciplined speaking engagements where he sticks to a script," Shaub said of Trump.

Trump originally wanted a parade with military tanks and other machinery rolling through downtown Washington ever since he was enthralled by a two-hour procession of French military tanks and fighter jets in Paris on Bastille Day in July 2017.

Later that year Trump said he'd have a similar parade in Washington on the Fourth of July, 2018, and would "top" the Paris show. The event ended up being pushed to Veterans Day, which conflicted with one of Trump's trips abroad, before it was scuttled after cost estimates exceeding $90 million were made public.

In February, Trump tweeted for the public to "HOLD THE DATE!" for this Fourth of July.

Washington has held an Independence Day celebration for decades, featuring a parade along Constitution Avenue, a concert on the Capitol lawn with music by the National Symphony Orchestra and fireworks beginning at dusk near the Washington Monument.

Trump altered the lineup by adding his speech, moving the fireworks closer to the Lincoln Memorial and summoning the tanks and warplanes.

Associated Press writers Matthew Daly, Ellen Knickmeyer and Chris Rugaber contributed to this report. </s> WASHINGTON — In a sweltering capital threatened by storms, the traditional Fourth of July parade Thursday served as a warm-up act to a distinctly nontraditional evening event at the Lincoln Memorial, where President Donald Trump made plans to command the stage against the backdrop of a show of military muscle.

Protesters unimpressed by his "Salute to America" program inflated a roly-poly balloon depicting Trump as an angry, diaper-clad baby.

With his decision to add his own production to the usual festivities, Trump set himself up to be the first president in nearly seven decades to address a crowd at the National Mall on Independence Day. "I will speak on behalf of our great Country!" he said in a morning tweet. "Perhaps even Air Force One will do a low & loud sprint over the crowd."

He's calling his event a "Salute to America," honoring the armed forces, and he said in a tweet early Thursday that he "will speak on behalf of our great Country!"

But thunderstorms threatened, with periods of "torrential rain" forecast by the National Weather Service and a flash-flood watch in effect.

Not since 1951, when President Harry Truman spoke before a large gathering on the Washington Monument grounds to mark the 175th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, has a commander in chief made an Independence Day speech to a sizable crowd on the Mall. Protests erupted in 1970 when President Richard Nixon taped a message that was played to crowds on the Mall at an "Honor America Day" celebration organized by supporters.

In the shadow of the Washington Monument, the anti-war organization Codepink erected a 20-foot tall "Trump baby" balloon to protest what it called the president's co-opting of Independence Day.

"We think that he is making this about himself and it's really a campaign rally," said Medea Benjamin, the organization's co-director. "We think that he's a big baby. ... He's erratic, he's prone to tantrums, he doesn't understand the consequences of his actions. And so this is a great symbol of how we feel about our president."

The balloon remained tied down at the Mall because park officials restricted the group's permission to move the balloon or fill it with helium, Benjamin said.

A small crowd gathered to take pictures with the balloon, which drew Trump supporters and detractors.

Kevin Malton, a Trump supporter from Middlesboro, Kentucky, came with his son for the holiday and took pictures with the balloon. He was glad to see the mix of political beliefs at the event, he said. "Even though everybody has different opinions," he said, "everybody's getting along."

In a message marking the 243rd anniversary of the Founding Fathers' adoption of the Declaration of Independence, Trump called the document a milestone that "cast off the shackles of tyranny."

The White House said Trump would speak at the Lincoln Memorial in front of a ticket-only, VIP crowd of Republican donors, administration and campaign officials, family members and those who had come to see him or protest what they saw as a divisive intrusion on a traditionally unifying national holiday.

Trump had sounded a defensive note Wednesday, tweeting that the cost "will be very little compared to what it is worth."

"We own the planes, we have the pilots, the airport is right next door (Andrews), all we need is the fuel," he said, referring to Maryland's Joint Base Andrews, home for some of the planes expected for the holiday flyover. "We own the tanks and all. Fireworks are donated by two of the greats."

Trump glossed over the expense of shipping tanks and fighting vehicles to Washington by rail and guarding them for several days, and other costs.

One of the Democrats running for president said "this business of diverting money and military assets to use them as a kind of prop, to prop up a presidential ego, is not reflecting well on our country." Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is a Navy Reserve veteran who served in Afghanistan in 2014.

Some of the Republican president's supporters welcomed his stamp on the holiday.

Rachel McKenna of McKinney, Texas, said her relatives have served in the military and she thought it was important to say "'We love you guys, we appreciate everything you do,' and I love the fact I can see that," as she pointed to the Bradley fighting vehicle positioned near the Lincoln Memorial.

"I've never ever seen one," she said. "I just think it's so cool."

Under White House direction, the Pentagon was arranging for an Air Force B-2 stealth bomber and other warplanes to conduct flyovers. There will be Navy F-35 and F-18 fighter jets, the Navy Blue Angels aerobatics team, Army and Coast Guard helicopters and Marine V-22 Ospreys. A small number of Army Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles were stationed in the zone.

Two groups, the National Parks Conservation Foundation and Democracy Forward, want the Interior Department's internal watchdog to investigate what they say may be a "potentially unlawful decision to divert" national parks money to Trump's "spectacle."

Trump and the event's organizers could be on the hook to reimburse the government millions of dollars if he goes into campaign mode, in violation of federal appropriations law and the Hatch Act, which bars politicking on government time, said Walter Shaub, who left the Office of Government Ethics in 2017 after clashing with the White House over ethics and disclosure issues.

Trump originally wanted a parade with military tanks and other machinery rolling through downtown Washington ever since he was enthralled by a two-hour procession of French military tanks and fighter jets in Paris on Bastille Day in July 2017 .

Later that year Trump said he'd have a similar parade in Washington on the Fourth of July, 2018, and would "top" the Paris show. The event ended up being pushed to Veterans Day, which conflicted with one of Trump's trips abroad, before it was scuttled after cost estimates exceeding $90 million were made public.

Washington has held an Independence Day celebration for decades, featuring a parade along Constitution Avenue, a concert on the Capitol lawn with music by the National Symphony Orchestra and fireworks beginning at dusk near the Washington Monument.

Trump altered the lineup by adding his speech, moving the fireworks closer to the Lincoln Memorial and summoning the tanks and warplanes.

Associated Press writers Kali Robinson, Matthew Daly, Ellen Knickmeyer and Christopher Rugaber contributed to this report. </s> (Reuters) - FBI officials arrested a man who discussed setting off a bomb during Fourth of July celebrations in Cleveland, the bureau’s top agent in the Ohio city said on Monday.

Demetrius Pitts, who had expressed allegiance to the al Qaeda militant group, was arrested on Sunday after a meeting with an undercover FBI agent where he said he planned to plant a bomb at a parade celebrating the U.S. Independence Day holiday and would target other locations in Cleveland and Philadelphia.

“What would hit them in the core? ... Blow up. Have a bomb. Blow up at the Fourth of July parade,” Stephen Anthony, the FBI’s head agent in Cleveland, quoted Pitts as saying. Anthony also told a news conference that the man was “willing to chop off hands and heads.”

Pitts, 48, is from the Cleveland suburb of Maple Heights, Ohio, the FBI said in a statement.

Like many other American cities, downtown Cleveland puts on a fireworks display to celebrate July 4.

Cities typically ramp up security around such events.

“This defendant, by his own words and by his own deeds, wanted to attack our nation and its ideals,” said Justin Herdman, the U.S. attorney for northern Ohio. “He wanted us to be afraid to speak our minds. He also wanted us to be afraid to gather together in public places.”

Pitts was charged with attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. He faces up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted.

Officials said Pitts is an American citizen who had been radicalized in the United States.

In 2015, U.S. law enforcement officials said they had arrested more than 10 people inspired by the Islamic State militant group ahead of the Fourth of July holiday, saying the arrests had disrupted planned attacks.

A pair of ethnic Chechen brothers inspired by al Qaeda killed three people and injured more than 260 with a pair of homemade bombs at the Boston Marathon in 2013.

Eight people were killed in New York last Oct. 31 when an Uzbek immigrant was accused of using a truck to plow them down on a bike path. The suspect told police that he chose Halloween for the attack because he thought there would be more people on the streets, according to prosecutors. </s> (CNN) With jets roaring overhead and a poncho-clad crowd before him, President Donald Trump implored Americans to come together Thursday in a show of national pride -- a rare unifying message from a deeply divisive President that came after days of controversy and criticism over his precedent-shattering military spectacle on the National Mall.

"We must go forward as a nation with that same unity of purpose," Trump said, filmed through rain-streaked bulletproof glass as showers beat steadily on his audience. "As long as we stay true to our course, as long as we remember our great history, as long as we never, ever stop fighting for a better future, then there will be nothing that America cannot do."

After a flyover from the plane that normally serves as Air Force One, Trump delivered 20 minutes of remarks that were an homage to the nation's early history and its military. But he also spoke about more recent advancements in civil rights and gender equality. And he looked ahead, declaring the American flag would soon be planted on Mars.

Ahead of his speech, Trump's skeptics wondered if the notoriously unpredictable President would remain apolitical. And White House aides scrambled to distribute tickets, worrying about Trump's reaction if the crowd appeared thin.

But by Thursday evening, a soggy mass of onlookers -- many wearing red "Make America Great Again" hats -- had assembled near the Lincoln Memorial to hear the President deliver what was ultimately a message of national pride.

"As we gather this evening in the joy of freedom, we remember that we all share a truly extraordinary heritage," Trump said in remarks that did not veer off-script. "Together, we are part of one of the greatest stories ever told — the story of America."

In a crowd-pleasing closer, Trump hailed each branch of the military as aircraft from their fleets -- -- including a B-2 stealth bomber and the Blue Angels -- sailed overhead, causing Washington's buildings to shake and rumble. Bands heralded the individual branches with their official march songs. M1 Abrams tanks transported by heavy rail sat on display.

Trump's plans were a sharp change from how the holiday has been marked in the nation's capital by previous presidents from either party.

The spectacle was likely to delight many Americans who view the military as one remaining unifying force for pride in a country divided along political, racial and economic lines. But it's also drawn skepticism and criticism for its costs and political hue.

There were to be about 750 to 800 military personnel taking part in the celebration, a defense official told CNN. That didn't include the 900 hundred members of the DC National Guard who were activated to provide traffic control and security on the streets and in the subway system.

Trump was hoping for an enormous crowd, and July Fourth reliably draws plenty of people to Washington. But the last time he delivered an address on the National Mall, on Inauguration Day, he was disappointed by the turnout, or at least in the way the turnout was depicted on the news

That left some of his aides working overtime to fill out the space along the Mall where he spoke. Some people who were offered tickets this week -- including donors and administration officials -- said they'd already made other plans.

Trump addressed the masses in front of Abraham Lincoln's 19-foot marble likeness, framed by the iconic Doric columns of the 16th President's memorial. On television, however, his face was partially obscured by rain streaks on the clear barrier constructed to protect him.

It's all a vastly scaled-up version of how presidents ordinarily celebrate July Fourth , the date American colonists officially served notice to Britain in 1776. Usually the holiday is marked with a picnic for service members and their families on the White House South Lawn, followed by a viewing of fireworks over the Washington Monument.

Presidents haven't traditionally delivered public remarks, much less an address on the National Mall. And the day hasn't been marked by such overtly militaristic displays.

That caused concern even among US military brass that their ranks could end up politicized, according to people familiar with the matter. In the planning for the event, Pentagon leaders had reservations about putting tanks or other armored vehicles on display, a source with direct knowledge of the situation said.

As the final details came together, several top military chiefs of the individual services did not attend and instead sent alternates, though some said they had prior plans.

The military displays Trump ordered up -- which included the flyovers, tanks and other ceremonial units such as the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, the US Army Band ("Pershing's Own") and the US Marine Corps Silent Drill Team -- led some to compare the event to the authoritarian parades seen in places like China or North Korea.

JUST WATCHED Here's how other countries do military parades Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Here's how other countries do military parades 01:41

But Trump's inspiration was actually a parade in France, which he witnessed with delight on Bastille Day in 2017. He immediately began formulating plans to stage a parade of his own, though cost estimates later caused him to reduce his aspirations to the speech and military pageant seen Thursday.

Through it all, Trump took enormous interest in even the smallest details, from the staging to the military equipment on display.

It's those details that were likely to ratchet up the costs of the event, though the massive fireworks display that will cap the evening has been donated.

, according to The Washington Post, money that the paper says is usually "primarily intended to improve parks across the country." Already, the National Park Service has redirected nearly $2.5 million to help cover costs related to the July 4 extravaganzaaccording to The Washington Post, money that the paper says is usually "primarily intended to improve parks across the country."

It's not clear how much the event will cost altogether, though Trump attempted to downplay the amount on Wednesday.

"The cost of our great Salute to America tomorrow will be very little compared to what it is worth," he wrote on Twitter. "We own the planes, we have the pilots, the airport is right next door (Andrews), all we need is the fuel. We own the tanks and all. Fireworks are donated by two of the greats. Nice!"

That wasn't entirely truthful -- the planes used in the flyovers came from California, Missouri, Kentucky and Florida. And the costs of the event extend well beyond the military equipment.

For example, just the "transparent ballistic armor" used to protect the President during his speech could cost more than $24,000, according to government records

This story has been updated with additional developments Thursday. </s> President Donald Trump, joined by Vice President Mike Pence, left, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, right, speaks during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, July 1, 2019. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump isn’t taking “no tanks” for an answer on the Fourth of July.

He said Monday that a display of U.S. military tanks will be part of a special event he’s headlining July 4 in Washington, and an Associated Press photographer saw at least two M1A1 Abrams tanks and two Bradley Fighting Vehicles on flatcars in a railyard at the southeastern edge of Washington.

Military police were guarding the vehicles, which were visible to passers-by on nearby paths.

A U.S. official told the AP that the military vehicles to be used in the July 4 event were being stored at the railyard.

Trump had wanted a military parade of tanks and other equipment in the District of Columbia after he witnessed a similar parade on Bastille Day in Paris in 2017 . That plan eventually was scuttled, partly because of cost, though Trump apparently held on to the idea.

Local officials also had objected because of the damage the heavy armored tanks could do to city streets.

“We’re going to have some tanks stationed outside,” Trump said Monday from the Oval Office, appearing to acknowledge local officials’ earlier concerns.

He offered no specifics on where the vehicles would be located.

“You’ve got to be pretty careful with the tanks because the roads have a tendency not to like to carry heavy tanks,” he said. “So we have to put them in certain areas, but we have the brand new Sherman tanks and we have the brand new Abrams tanks.”

Sherman tanks were the tank most widely used by the U.S. during World War II, but they have been out of service for decades. The M1A1 Abrams tank is currently the main U.S. battle tank.

Two M1A1 Abrams tanks and two Bradley Fighting Vehicles will be on display as part of Trump’s “Salute to America” event, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the exhibits have not been made public.

The Abrams tanks weigh more than 60 tons apiece and were been shipped on railroad freight cars, from Fort Stewart, Georgia, the nearest Army base that has them. The White House declined to release more specific information.

Trump recalled his visit earlier this year to a plant in Lima, Ohio, where M1A1 Abrams tanks are refurbished. The plant had been at risk for closure but remained online due to Trump’s investments in defense spending.

“We have some incredible equipment, military equipment on display — brand new,” Trump said. “And we’re very proud of it. You know we’re making a lot of new tanks right now. We’re building a lot of new tanks in Lima, Ohio — our great tank factory that people wanted to close down until I got elected and I stopped it from being closed down, and now it’s a very productive facility.”

Thursday’s events are also expected to include a military demonstration by the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and other aircraft.

“We’re going to have a great Fourth of July in Washington, D.C. It’ll be like no other,” Trump said. “It’ll be special and I hope a lot of people come. And it’s going to be about this country and it’s a salute to America.”

“I’m going to say a few words and we’re going to have planes going overhead, the best fighter jets in the world and other planes, too,” he said.

Trump plans to deliver a speech at the Lincoln Memorial during his “Salute to America,” which has been added to the regular schedule of Independence Day events in the nation’s capital. The annual fireworks display will go off closer to the Lincoln Memorial instead of the Washington Monument, as has been the long-standing tradition.

The event is open to the public and free of charge, but a ticket-only area in front of the memorial is being set aside for VIPs, including members of Trump’s family, friends and members of the military, the White House said.

Last year, Trump and his wife, first lady Melania Trump, hosted service members and their families at a picnic on the White House lawn and the president addressed guests from the balcony. No similar event is being planned this year.

Federal lawmakers, local officials and others have voiced concerns that Trump could alter the tone of what traditionally is a nonpartisan celebration of America’s independence from the British by delivering a political speech. Trump formally announced his bid for re-election in June.

Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, who oversees the National Mall and has helped orchestrate the president’s vision, and other officials have said Trump’s remarks will be patriotic.

Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor and Associated Press photographer Patrick Semansky in Washington contributed to this report. </s> WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - Battle tanks were seen on a train in Washington on Tuesday (July 2) ahead of a July Fourth celebration highlighting US military might that Democrats say President Donald Trump could turn into a re-election campaign rally.

Amid questions about the cost and tone of the event, White House officials said the Republican president will avoid politics and stick to patriotic themes in his speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on Thursday.

Reuters photographed M1 Abrams tanks and other armoured vehicles atop flat rail cars in Washington on Tuesday morning, a sign of the military firepower that will be featured, differing significantly from past annual celebrations of the 1776 Declaration of Independence.

For decades, US presidents have kept a low profile during the event, which typically draws hundreds of thousands of people to Washington's monument-lined National Mall for a concert and fireworks.

This year, Trump plans to speak at a military "Salute to America" that will feature military bands and flyovers from the US Navy's Blue Angels and Air Force One, the modified Boeing 747 that transports US presidents.

The event could also feature M1 Abrams battle tanks, a B-2 bomber, F-35 and F-22 fighter jets, and the Marine One helicopter that transports the president, the Pentagon said. Air traffic at nearby Ronald Reagan National Airport will be suspended during the flyovers and the fireworks, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The antiwar group Code Pink said it had secured a permit to bring a "Baby Trump" blimp, depicting the president in diapers, to a protest in the Mall during his speech. The permit does not allow the balloon to be filled with helium so it can float.

Democrats in Congress have questioned whether Trump will turn a patriotic celebration into a taxpayer-funded campaign rally.

"That's absolutely ridiculous. This is all about a salute to America. The president is not going to get political," White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said on Fox Business Network.

On June 18, Trump officially launched his 2020 campaign to seek a second four-year term. More than 20 Democrats are campaigning for their party's nomination to run against Trump.

The administration has not said how much Trump's pumped-up July Fourth celebration will cost. The Pentagon postponed a military parade planned for last November after it estimated it could cost US$90 million (S$122 million).

The National Park Service is diverting about US$2.5 million in entrance and recreation fees primarily intended to improve parks to cover costs associated with the celebration, the Washington Post reported, citing unnamed sources.

The agency did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the report.

"It is unacceptable that the Interior Department is failing to inform Congress about how it plans to spend taxpayer money to fund the president's lavish July Fourth plans, which reportedly include special access to the National Mall for the politically connected," Democratic Senator Tom Udall said in a statement.

A VIP section set up near the Lincoln Memorial will be open to government officials and lawmakers, according to a White House official speaking on condition of anonymity. In previous years, government officials and other VIPs have watched the fireworks from the White House lawn.
A major holiday celebration and military parade is held in Washington, D.C., United States, by President Donald Trump to commemorate the Fourth of July/Independence Day.