Trump kicks off America’s 250th anniversary celebrations and predicts a new golden age

Donald Trump kicked off the official celebrations for the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence on Wednesday with a ceremony at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. In his speech, the president traced the history of the United States, invoked the vision of the Founding Fathers, and declared that the upcoming July 4th celebration will be “one of the most monumental milestones in human history.”

The event marked the start of the Great American State Fair, a 16-day national fair that is one of the main projects of the Freedom 250 initiative.

The fair will be open to the public from June 25 to July 10 and will occupy a large portion of the National Mall, stretching from the Capitol to the Washington Monument. The event will feature booths from all 50 states and the six U.S. territories, as well as a wide variety of culinary offerings representative of the country’s different regions.

"We are the ones who carry forward the light of Western civilization"

Trump focused his speech on U.S. history, reflecting on the Founding Fathers and the virtues of the country’s founding documents: "In 1776, our founding fathers met in Philadelphia and changed the world forever and ever with a thing called the Declaration of Independence. They proclaim the eternal truths that we are endowed by our creator with the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness we all made.”

"And you know that free and equal by the hand of Almighty God. Those timeless American principles did not just win a revolution, but they built us into the greatest, strongest, and most exceptional nation the world has ever known," he added.

Furthermore, the president compared the United States to the great civilizations of history, asserting that Americans have a responsibility to build a new era of prosperity and leadership for future generations.

"From Athens to Rome, from London to Paris, from New York to LA, and from all other parts of the world, the great civilizations of history did not wallow in aging ruins of the past; they built new cities, they created new monuments, and they forged towering legacies that still inspire the world after hundreds and even thousands of years,” Trump said.

"As America turns 250, we are the inheritors of these incredible traditions. We are the ones who are carrying forward the light of Western civilization because this is the very beginning of the Golden Age of America," he continued.

Finally, the president maintained that the commemoration represents an opportunity for the United States to renew its national aspirations and set the course for future generations.

"This anniversary is a time to be proud of our past, but it is also a time to lift our sights, expand our ambitions, and raise our expectations of what America can be. We will leave our children nothing less than the richest inheritance, most advanced civilization, and highest standard of living in human history,” he declared.