President Donald Trump called America “the crowning achievement of human history” and declared “Our destiny is written by God,” during his keynote remarks celebrating America’s 250th birthday on the National Mall Saturday night.
The president spoke for just under 40 minutes to cap off Freedom 250’s Salute to America celebration, highlighting moments that underscored the country’s exceptionalism.
Opening his remarks, the president said he and those attending would not be deterred by the storm that rolled through Washington Saturday night, following an unparalleled day-long airshow.
“They saw lightning, and I said, ‘There’s no way. If we have to speak in front of one person at 4 o’clock in the morning, I’m going to be here. There’s no way we can be deterred,” he said.
Trump touted American exceptionalism, a concept leftists despise, from the start of his speech to the end.
“For two and a half centuries, our American republic has stood as the crowning achievement of human history. This country is the home of freedom. This is the land of liberty, and this is a flag that’s the banner of the most extraordinary, most exceptional, most incredible nation ever to exist on the face of the earth,” he said. “And we’re doing better now than we’ve ever done before.”
“No people have done more good, shown more courage, made more progress, righted more injustice, or achieved more greatness than you, the American people,” he continued. “For 250 years, the United States of America has been the hope, the promise, the light, and the glory among all of the nations of the world. All over the world, they try and be like us. Nobody can be like us. And with God’s help, we will always be this, or even better.”
The president recited the “timeless truths” or principles on which America was founded, as laid out in the Declaration of Independence.
“In Philadelphia, our founding fathers summoned the courage of giants and the wisdom of centuries to boldly proclaim these timeless truths,” he stated. “They declared that all men are created equal, that they are endowed with sacred, unalienable rights by the hand of our creator, and that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
He went on to call the U.S. Constitution “the most righteous political document ever conceived,” before hailing the rights guaranteed to citizens, singling out the First, Second, and Fourteenth amendments.
“Across the generations, Americans have fought, bled, and died, not just to secure those rights but to expand them to citizens of every race, religion, color, and creed because we are one people, we are one family…with one flag, and as our Declaration of Independence tells us, we are all made in the image of one almighty God,” he said.
The president shared the legacy of Sgt. William Carney, who escaped slavery and became the first black American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor by preserving an American flag in battle despite being badly wounded while fighting for the Union during the Civil War.
“On the front lines of battle, he saw a comrade struck down by enemy fire while carrying the stars and stripes, and Sergeant Carney dove to the ground to keep the flag from touching the mud. He didn’t want to have it touch the ground. He didn’t want to have it touch the mud. He wanted it to be perfect. He raised it high above the field and was shot four times,” Trump said.
“They thought he was gone, but he kept moving forward—he loved our country, our flag—before he returned to camp and announced, ‘Boys, the old flag never touched the ground,'” he added.
Throughout the speech, World War II veterans, up to 107 years old, and heroes from other wars throughout America’s recent history saluted some of the most storied and cherished American flags from the nation’s past. At one point, Army Col. Paris Davis, who, like Carney, is a Medal of Honor recipient, joined the president on stage to salute the flag draped over President Abraham Lincoln’s casket in Independence Hall. Carney earned his medal by helping to lead an attack on 100 enemy combatants in the Vietnam War.
“They said he was finished, his whole group was finished, and despite multiple life-threatening wounds, [he] saved the lives of his fellow soldiers,” Trump noted.
Trump highlighted American heroes and legends, from Dave Crockett to Wyatt Earp, to the Wright Brothers, to Annie Oakley, to President Teddy Roosevelt, throughout his remarks.
At the conclusion, Trump circled back to the themes of American exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny.
“We have thrived and flourished because our founders were great, our cause was just, our people are brave, our culture is exceptional, and our destiny is written by God,” he said.
“And as we can see here tonight, after 250 years, the spirit of 1776 still lives within us all,” he continued. “It still roars in the hearts of our nation’s capital. It still burns in the heart of every patriot, thunders through every city and town, and it still lights the entire world with the glow of American liberty, and there is nothing like that.”
While the president said estimates put the number at 375,000 people at the mall during the day, there were still an estimated 150,000 patriots on hand to hear his remarks after the storm forced an evacuation late in the evening, and doors ultimately reopened shortly before he began speaking at the 11:00 p.m. hour.
“They estimated that 375,000 people before everybody had to leave, and they now have 150,000 people. It’s the craziest thing anyone’s ever seen, at least. And I want to just thank you, and I feel so badly about some people, they left, and they couldn’t get back, but you’re very special people, and we have a very special country,” he said.
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