President Donald Trump travels to Mount Rushmore on Friday to deliver a speech and attend a fireworks display, launching a White House-branded commemoration of the 250th anniversary of US independence. The event, for which 4,800 guests were selected by lottery from more than 100,000 applicants, marks the return of pyrotechnics to the national memorial after a nearly three-decade ban, a prohibition last lifted in 2020 at Trump’s request. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who oversees the site, has described the location as the most fitting place to honour the nation’s progress, while Trump himself has repeatedly stated a wish to see his face carved into the granite alongside those of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt.

Viewed from Washington, the Mount Rushmore trip is the opening act of a weekend in which the president will also headline a large rally-style gathering on the National Mall on 4 July, complete with military flyovers and what his administration has billed as the world’s largest fireworks display. Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation to add Trump’s likeness to the monument, and the president has posted an altered image of his face on the mountain on his social media platform. The National Park Service has previously stated that no viable space exists for an additional carving, but Burgum has publicly insisted there is room, telling Fox News that Trump belongs in the ranks of Washington and Theodore Roosevelt as a “remarkable change maker.”

Opposition figures and indigenous communities have raised objections on multiple fronts. Tribal groups have long opposed fireworks at the site, citing wildfire risks and the monument’s location on sacred Lakota land, while Democratic members of Congress have accused the White House of sidelining the bipartisan America250 commission in favour of a Trump-linked foundation, Freedom 250. A report by House Democrats, titled “From Vanity to Insanity,” alleges that the anniversary has been exploited for personal aggrandisement. Polling data released this week by Quinnipiac University indicates that 61 percent of Americans believe the country is not living up to the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, and only four in ten say they feel proud about the anniversary.

The celebrations unfold against a backdrop of low presidential approval ratings, driven in part by the cost of living and the military conflict with Iran, according to surveys. Republican lawmakers have expressed unease that the war could cost the party control of at least one chamber of Congress in November’s midterm elections. Trump, who on Wednesday opened the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota and welcomed comparisons to the 26th president, has said he will deliver a lengthy speech on the National Mall despite a forecast heatwave. The main commemorative event in Washington is expected to draw large crowds, though a “Great American State Fair” organised earlier by Freedom 250 in the capital attracted sparse attendance and widespread ridicule.