The July 4, 2026, 250th celebration of Independence Day was beyond expectations in its massive fireworks display and stirring musical program, but it had several important themes beyond the performative patriotism one has come to expect during the holidays celebrating important milestones in our Nation’s history.
In our view, the most important of these was the theme of American exceptionalism, and who better to drive home that theme than the Number One proponent of American exceptionalism, Doanld Trump.
While members of the television and online commentariat seemed to start every segment with “we still have work to do” or “but, we’re not perfect” President Trump was having none of that.
As he said during his remarks at the America 250 celebration in Washington, D.C., “Together, we are also reasserting the truth that American strength and power is not something to be ashamed of. It is something that we are very, very proud of. This country has been the greatest force for peace and justice on earth in the last century. We defeated tyrants, demolished evil, and saved freedom again and again and again.”
In his two major speeches he pounded away on the theme that Americans going forward must embrace our exceptional role in the world and the affairs of nations.
During his remarks at Mt. Rushmore the President introduced the theme saying, “We are the strongest and most powerful country on earth. And by the grace of God, the United States of America is the most successful, most accomplished, most exceptional nation ever to exist in human history, and it is great to be your president. It is great. For a quarter of a millennium, liberty, justice, equality, self-government, and unmatched prosperity have flourished here as they have never flourished anywhere before.”
And he went on the use much of the rest of his time to emphasize that theme:
“There is nothing like what we are doing. The birth and survival of the American nation under God is quite simply the best and most incredible thing ever to happen on this planet by human hands ever. That is ever, ever, ever. No other country has done more good for this world than the United States of America.”
“And we give thanks for these extraordinary blessings. We remember that what we have created in this country is not the natural way of the world. It is not the norm. It is the exception. It is rare. It is priceless, and it is truly miraculous. Throughout the entire story of humanity, most people in most places have lived a life plagued by suffering, poverty, exploitation, violence, and misery.”
“There has never been anything like this. The triumph of American independence was the result of the most extraordinary people in history, the most extraordinary culture in history, and the most extraordinary ideas in history, all creating the most extraordinary republic ever, ever, ever in history.”
“Here the old world sent its bravest, boldest, and most resilient. It's fiercest, most faithful, and freedom loving. These men and women brought values, traditions, and customs transmitted over the centuries in Britain and stretching back even further to Athens, Jerusalem, and Rome. The United States of America is where the greatest civilization in human history became greater than ever before on the grounds and granite hills and the rugged plains of this wide open continent, they forged a uniquely American character, a new breed of citizen.”
“No one has ever given more to charity, ended more hunger, cured more disease or done more to uplift humanity than Americans and no country ever will be able to match it. [Audience chants "USA"] Thank you. So true. Americans honor excellence. We admire boldness. We respect ambition. We are a nation of dreamers and believers, warriors and explorers, doers and fighters.”
“In every human endeavor, Americans see an unfinished competition. What is strong can be made stronger. What is fast can be made faster. What is great can be made greater than ever before and that's what's happening with America. Show us a mountain and we'll just climb it. Show us an ocean and we'll just cross it. Show us a problem and we will just solve it. Show us a task the world calls impossible and Americans will get it done.”
And the President came back to the theme of American exceptionalism the next night in Washington, DC, during his remarks before the hundreds of thousands gathered on the National Mall.
“No people have done more good, showed more courage, made more progress right at more injustice, or achieved more greatness than you, the American people. 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.”
“Americans must never forget that we are a historic and heroic people, with a heroic spirit and a heroic purpose on this beautiful earth of ours. We are made the courage and the fire and the flesh and the blood of the best and the bravest people this world has ever produced. We are the bravest and the best.”
“Americans crossed the Great Plains, scaled the Rockies tables. We just tamed the wilderness and conquered the frontier and built the empire. It's called the Empire of Liberty. We laid down the railroads, raised up the skyscrapers, those beautiful skyscrapers, and dug out the Panama Canal, considered the eighth wonder of the world, which everyone said was an impossible thing to do. And by the way, 38,000 Americans died to give us one of the greatest engineering feats of all time, Panama Canal. This was the unstoppable spirit that created the world's most powerful industries and built the strongest military anyone had ever seen. And today it is stronger and more powerful than it ever was before.”
“In conclusion, from a declaration in Philadelphia to victory at Yorktown. From the bustling factories of the heartland to the towering snowcapped summits of Alaska, from the endless frontier of the open wild west to the magnificent sand dunes at Kitty Hawk. From the glimmering skyline of Manhattan to the far side of the moon. Just so that, and from the now safe and beautiful capital of Washington. Think of it. Washington, D.C., our capital, our capital is now safe and gleaming and beautiful again. It's safe again. Went from a very unsafe place two years ago to one of the safest cities in the country, and one of the most beautiful, to the gleaming waters of the Gulf of America. There is no challenge Americans cannot overcome. There is no place we cannot go. There is no goal we cannot reach. And there is nothing that Americans cannot do. And we're proving that right now.”
And finally:
“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. And as we can see here tonight, after 250 years, the spirit of 1776 still lives within us all. 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. At 250 years old. We may be the oldest constitutional republic on earth, but our country is just getting started because the best is yet to come. This is only the dawn of the golden Age of America.”
George Rasley is editor of Richard Viguerie's ConservativeHQ.com. A veteran of over 300 political campaigns, in the course of ten presidential campaigns he served as an event producer and advance representative for some of America’s most recognized conservative political figures, including Ronald Reagan, Sarah Palin and Jack Kemp. A member of American MENSA, he served on the House and Senate staff and on the staff of Vice President Dan Quayle. Rasley is a graduate of Hanover College and studied international affairs at Oxford University's Worcester College.
