Donald Trump's 2019 "Salute to America"

Overview

Donald Trump's 2019 "Salute to America" refers to the Independence Day gathering at the Lincoln memorial hosted by President Donald Trump complete with a military display, speech, fireworks and parade. The gathering was met with controversy due to its military display, costs and protests outside the Whitehouse.

Background

On February 12, 2019, During a Cabinet meeting Donald Trump announced, "We're thinking about doing, on the 4th of July or thereabouts, a parade, a 'Salute to America' parade. I guess it'd be really more of a gathering than a parade. Perhaps at the Lincoln Memorial. We're looking at sites. But we're thinking about doing something that would, perhaps, become a tradition."^[1] On February 24th, 2019, Trump^[3] tweeted, "HOLD THE DATE! We will be having one of the biggest gatherings in the history of Washington, D.C., on July 4th. It will be called “A Salute To America” and will be held at the Lincoln Memorial. Major fireworks display, entertainment and an address by your favorite President, me!" The Tweet garnered over 202,000 likes and 46,500 retweets in four months. Washington D.C. had already been hosting a Independence Day for years.^[2] Since Donald Trump expressed his excitement after seeing the 2017 Bastille Day military parade, many citizens were concerned about the potential cost of an authoritarian-style military parade being hosted on the Fourth.

Notable Developments

On July 2nd, 2019, NBC News^[8] reported that the Republican National Committee were offered VIP tickets to the event while Democratic National Committee members were not. On July 3rd, CNN reported that "the US military is expected to be front and center during Thursday's celebration" providing confirmation from a defense official that there will be tanks and weaponry showcased. That same day, Senator Bernie Sanders^[6] tweet, "This is what authoritarians do: @realDonaldTrump is taking $2.5 million away from our National Park Service to glorify himself with a spectacle of military tanks rolling through Washington. And top GOP donors are getting VIP seats, all at taxpayer expense" (shown below, left). The tweet gained over 9,800 likes and 3,800 retweets in two days. Joe Biden also spoke against the event saying "I wonder what Donald Trump will say this evening, when he speaks to the nation at an event designed more to stroke his ego than celebrate American ideals.”^[4] Twitter user @Z_Everson^[7] tweeted that "Trump Hotel DC still has rooms available for its owner's Salute To America. Three-night minimum required, lowest price is a whopping $1,151/night" (shown below, right).

On July 4th, 2019, NBC News recorded President Trump's speech at his "Salute To America" Military event (shown below). The video has gained over 63,000 views in a day on YouTube.

On that day, @PressSec^[5] tweeted a photo of the crowd in attendance saying, "Incredible to see all in attendance to hear our @POTUS speak & celebrate our great nation’s Independence Day! 🇺🇸" (shown below). The tweet garnered over 9,800 retweets and 46,600 likes in a day.

Out side the White House many gathered in protest. Twitter user @stevennelson10 posted a video of the protest in which an American flag was burned (shown below).

Revolutionary War Airports

On July 4th, 2019, Many people began to notice that Donald Trump mentioned the presence of airports during the revolutionary war in his speech. Twitter user @terri2uus uploaded a clip of the speech saying, "Did he say the army took over the AIRPORTS during the Revolutionary War? I rewound and play it twice. #TrumpParade" (shown below). The tweet accumulated over 56,700 likes and 18,800 retweets in a day.

The next day, Twitter users began penning parody letters and photoshopping paintings of the revolutionary war to include airplanes. Twitter user @Primar13^[9] tweeted a parody quote, "One if by Land. Two if by Sea. Three if by the Delta Shuttle from LaGuardia. ~Paul Revere" (shown below, left). The tweet gained over 5,800 likes and 1,600 retweets that day. Twitter user @the_60s_at_50 ^[10]posted a photoshopped painting captions, "Apparently there may be some misinformation going around about #RevolutionaryWarAirports. This image is often said to be from the Battle of LaGuardia, when in fact it is from the Battle of White Planes. (Note the chemtrails, a deciding factor in the outcome.)" (shown below, right). The tweet accumulated over 800 likes that day. On July 5th, McSweeney's^[11] posted an article titles "The Battle at John F. Kennedy International Airport, 1776" describing a fake battle.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References