Donald Trump’s Freedom 250—a damp, tardy affair—reached its grand climax in a speech that appeared to be in a permanent, fractious standoff with both the venue’s curated soundtrack and the dozy skyward visuals. But then, who among us is truly surprised by the latest iteration of this recurring character in the Trump production cycle?

The fireworks that Donald Trump’s supporters had to wait till past midnight to see

When the fireworks display finally lit the July night sky above Washington D.C., it had turned midnight. This was the day after the 4th of July. Better late then never, they say. For the Freedom 250 celebration that started four hours later than the scheduled hour (7pm), Donald Trump had promised a record-breaking spectacle. According to NBC News, the company behind the pyrotechnics flaunt, Pennsylvania-based Pyrotecnico, had planned to launch 850, 000 fireworks. The repetitive display lasted for an hour, but after having seen the livestream of the New York celebration, during which the fireworks blossomed on time under good weather, Trump’s stuttering sigh-in-sky had all the monotony and gray-smoke-choked sequence that mistook repetition for pageantry. It is fascinating that while the design and set up of the aerial show was by an American company, the actual physical explosives used to attempt to break some world record were manufactured in China. Earlier, in Mr Trump’s speech, he said: “The communist system is the opposite of the American system, and the communist system has never worked.” Only perhaps their products, the very ones that will help America gain another Guinness Book of World Records entry?

Mr Trump took more than one swipe at the communists and communism. There were at least five. While he adhered with some fidelity to the teleprompter clearly stationed at his right, it is hard to believe that there were the quintet of mentions in the actual text. The strategy here is cloudy. The president wanted to offer Americans a fireworks closing that they would never forget, while, later, standing under a sky lit up by millions of dollars worth of fireworks manufactured in Communist China. It is unfortunate that Mr Trump totally rejects the auspicious or he might be aquianted with the Chinese saying 和气生财 (heqi shengcai)— harmony brings wealth. But he did not only hit out at China, he was extremely bellicose towards Britain. Before the show began, while his supporters were still trickling into the Great American State Fair’s boggy grounds (someone did slip), the PA system blared Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. We know that song is extremely popular among the MAGA masses, but why it needed to be broadcast during a celebration of the independence from the British Crown is rather baffling. There must be something beautiful in using music from Britain’s pop canon to offer a Salute to America to prove, once and for all, that while America famously parted ways over a little disagreement regarding tea and representation, they are more than happy to reclaim the colonies, one chart-topping power ballad at a time.

Donald and Melania Trump tacking in the view of the National Mall behind bullet-proof shield

When we take a step back and look at the puzzle pieces of how this Salute to America event was put together, the cultural and political mismatch is outlandish. If we were to be precise, the 4th of July celebrations was specifically organised to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence—the literal document written to break away from British rule. Mr Trump, seemingly desperate for a script that didn’t involve his own recent litigation, exhumed the 18th century’s most tired grievances. He dutifully dusted off the anti-King George III routine, once again casting the British Crown as the mustache-twirling villain of the American narrative. Yet, in the very next breath, he was quick to brag that “every king and prime minister respects us now.” It is, we suppose, a relief to know that while the Crown remains a historical pain in the arse, the monarch of today is to be welcomed—provided, of course, that they demonstrate a flair of kowtowing to the man at the podium. It is peculiar to boast about the respect of “kings” on the one day of the year dedicated to celebrating the fact that Americans rejected having a king altogether. We are forced to ponder if both are equally mad.

Apart from the weird musical preface of the Queen song, the show started with American tenor Christopher Macchio singing Ave Maria (in Latin, no less). And then, Nessun Dorma from the Italian opera Turandot by Giacomo Puccini. The aria takes place during a high stakes, life-or-death game of wits in ancient China! A foretaste of the president’s speech to come? It looked to us that the songs were primarily an atas move or, as the Americans might call it, “prestige-borrowing”. Still, it’s a strange, bewildering experience to watch one of the world’s most dramatic arias—a song about a prince staking his life on a riddle—being used as a walk-on song for a political speech. But perhaps that is the best metaphor for the entire Freedom 250 spectacle. Nothing needs to make sense, nor does the administration feel any obligation to uphold America’s already tarnished reputation. Team Trump was perfectly happy to play British rock music, attack British history, and launch Chinese explosives all within a surreal hour because to the crowd on the National Mall, listening to an Italian song set in Beijing’s Forbidden City, the only thing that mattered was the immediate, high-drama emotion of the show. Why burden Donald Trump’s narrative with anything as inconvenient as America’s actual two-and-a-half centuries of history? After all, in MAGA land, truth is the quick death of a good fantasy.

Screen shots: apnews/YouTube