WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump sees America’s 250th anniversary as a chance to get the country excited again — about Donald Trump.
The president is hosting a rally Wednesday on the National Mall in Washington. He has said it will be replete with a military flyover by stealth bombers, military bands, singer Lee Greenwood of “God Bless the USA” fame and a speech by Trump.
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President Donald Trump is pictured in the Oval Office of the White House during an executive order signing about quantum computing, Monday, June 22, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
France's military aerobatic team, the Patrouille de France, flys over Washington in a tribute to America's 250th birthday, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
An arch is pictured as preparations continue for the Great American State Fair on the National Mall, Monday, June 22, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
President Donald Trump dances on stage at a Mack Trucks facility, Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in Macungie, Pa. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
It comes as Trump works to convince Americans ahead of critical November midterm elections that he's put the unpopular Iran war in the rearview mirror, with oil prices easing as the Strait of Hormuz has started to reopen in the wake of an interim deal to end the war with Tehran.
The rally is designed to kick off weeks of celebrations about America and its 1776 founding as part of “The Great American State Fair” on the mall, the national park that stretches from the U.S. Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial.
But Trump’s appearance onstage was only announced after several musicians — including Young MC, Martina McBride and the Commodores — canceled their concerts because of concerns the event had become politicized. The president stepped into the void as he hyped his own ability to command a crowd.
“I am thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the Greatest President in History,” Trump posted on social media about his plan to be the event’s headliner.
In a video posted Monday night, he said the event would be "the biggest rally we’ve ever had,” and declared: “It’s our music, our playlist. We don’t have a lot of people boring you with songs you don’t want to hear. We have the hottest people.”
Tuesday afternoon, country singer Alexis Wilkins, the longtime girlfriend of FBI Director Kash Patel, posted on X that she would be performing at Wednesday's event.
Trump has struggled to deliver the presidency that he advertised to voters — causing his approval rating to dwell at a low 37%, according to the most recent Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research polling.
Democrats say his botched repairs to the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool and the resulting algae outbreak are a sign that he’s spending taxpayer money on vanity projects instead of the nation's legacy.
Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., said the Trump-affiliated group organizing the 250th anniversary was selling access to special interests and redrafting the nation's founding to the president's liking, based on documents he presented at a congressional hearing earlier this year.
“It should be about bringing us together,” Huffman said. “He's trying to make this 250th celebration all about him.”
Trump’s fondness for showmanship has not been a match for public anxiety about his presidency. Only 33% of U.S. adults approve of his economic leadership, with favorability at 40% on immigration and 34% on Iran.
“It’s clear that Trump’s preoccupations in his second term — from Iran to the Washington reflecting pool — are not those of most members of his base, let alone other Americans,” said Daniel Treisman, a politics professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. “That explains his unusually low approval ratings.”
Inflation is still higher than what Trump inherited and it has been outpacing wage growth. The budget deficit remains on a path upward that keeps interest rates high. Investments in artificial intelligence are driving growth, but they come with fears of middle-class job losses such that the construction of data centers needed for America’s tech economy have become controversial politically.
Trump has fueled dramas over tariffs, NATO, immigration, ownership of Greenland and his own renovations of iconic buildings and monuments in Washington — generating a flood of controversy that has pushed things the administration sees as accomplishments — such as the capture of Venezuela’s former leader Nicolás Maduro — off the public radar.
James Snyder, a Harvard University professor, has partnered on research showing that past rallies have helped Trump turn out his supporters to vote, in the short-term. But he noted that Wednesday’s rally comes more than four months before the November midterm elections, and is unlikely to have a politically strategic benefit for Republicans.
“I would not expect that the rally would have any clear effect on the 2026 midterm elections,” Snyder said.
President Donald Trump is pictured in the Oval Office of the White House during an executive order signing about quantum computing, Monday, June 22, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
France's military aerobatic team, the Patrouille de France, flys over Washington in a tribute to America's 250th birthday, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
An arch is pictured as preparations continue for the Great American State Fair on the National Mall, Monday, June 22, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
President Donald Trump dances on stage at a Mack Trucks facility, Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in Macungie, Pa. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
LONDON (AP) — Large parts of western Europe were baking Wednesday as a “heat dome” brought extreme conditions that many forecasters warned could present a risk to life.
A day after France recorded its hottest-ever day, the U.K. was set to see its highest ever June temperature, prompting the national weather forecaster to issue a "red heat health” alert for much of central and southern England, as well as Wales.
This is only the second such warning ever issued by U.K. authorities following July 2022, when temperatures exceeded 40 degrees C (104 F) for the first time ever. The temperature is set to fall short of 40 degrees C on Wednesday but could breach that level — not long ago considered as unimaginable — on Thursday.
“Red warnings are reserved for the most severe events and we’re expecting severe and significant impacts from this heat wave, with health impacts likely for many, even beyond those who are normally more vulnerable to the heat,” said Mark Sidaway, deputy chief forecaster for the U.K. Met Office.
Authorities in France, Italy and Spain have also issued warnings about the risks of extreme heat for tens of millions of people.
Records are being broken across Europe, seemingly every year, and authorities are struggling to adapt their societies to the realities of the new heat environment. Many of the buildings, work places and transport networks just aren’t fit for purpose as human-caused climate change leads to increasingly extreme weather. U.N. climate agency projections say the next five years are likely to shatter more heat records.
“Heatwaves are becoming more frequent, longer and hotter with climate change, as a direct result of the fossil fuels we are releasing as a society,” said Hayley Fowler, a professor at the Centre for Climate and Environmental Resilience at Newcastle University in the northeast of England. “We can expect to have to cope with more and more of these types of events in the years to come.”
France has borne much of the brunt of the current heatwave. On Tuesday, the average of temperatures measured at 30 weather stations was 29.8 C (85.6 F), the latest in a series of never-before-registered highs heaped on Europe’s largest country.
Unsurprisingly, many of the country's major attractions, including the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre museum in Paris have restricted visiting hours while schools and transportation schedules were upended.
Some schools in England have also closed due to the heat and many train services have been canceled, with passengers urged to avoid nonessential travel in areas covered by the red warning.
Network Rail, which operates Britain’s railroad network, warned of “significant disruption” across England and Wales as it imposes speed restrictions to minimize the risk from heat-related issues such as buckled tracks and sagging overhead electric wires.
Eurostar, which connects the U.K. to continental Europe under the English Channel, said it canceled four trains planned between London and Paris on Wednesday and Thursday “due to expected adverse weather."
Italy’s Health Ministry issued “red alerts” for 16 cities on Wednesday with major cities such as Rome, Milan, Florence and Turin affected. The “bollino rosso” red alert signals emergency conditions that can affect not only vulnerable people but also healthy adults.
Temperatures could reach highs of 41 C (105 F) in Florence and 38 C (104 F) in Milan, while Rome and Naples are forecast to remain below 36 C (96.8 F).
Italy has been roasting in high temperatures for days. Fashion journalists sweated through runway shows in Milan’s fashion capital earlier this week. Many fashionistas who were on hand to see the menswear offerings for Spring-Summer 2027 snapped up battery operated fans with misters in subway kiosks.
One designer, Philipp Plein, had to change his venue just four hours before the show due to an air conditioning malfunction, while others provided hand-held fans, misters and even big umbrellas as protection against the sun and heat for outdoor shows.
Designers broadly agreed that a well-dressed man still wears a suit. The challenge was how to survive the heat. The response was ventilation, with dress shirts left unbuttoned or, in some cases, simply done away with.
Even the British decided it was too hot for unneeded layers of clothing. Male journalists covering the U.K.'s tradition-bound Parliament will be allowed to remove their jackets in the press gallery of the House of Commons on Wednesday.
Britain’s heat advisory remains in effect through Thursday, with overnight temperatures remaining well above average.
“If you think it’s hot already, well, we ain’t seen nothing yet,” Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said on Wednesday morning.
One remedy being touted comes via soccer's World Cup, which is currently taking place in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The European Trade Union Confederation said employers should take inspiration from the cooling breaks used at the World Cup to grant all workers paid breaks and help keep them safe during heat waves.
“Builders, fruit pickers, or bus drivers need much longer than three minutes to recover, but it is a good example of how work can be adapted to a changing climate," said ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch.
“Taking a break in high temperatures is a common-sense precaution, but too many employers are refusing to put these and other necessary measures in place or even discuss them with trade unions, leading to a rising number of avoidable deaths in European workplaces,” she added.
Jill Lawless in London, Colleen Barry in Milan, Samuel Petrequin in Paris and Giada Zampano in Rome contributed.
A drugstore sign shows the temperature 43 degrees Celsius (109,4 degrees Fahrenheit) in Rennes, western France, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeremias Gonzalez)
Parisians bath in the Canal Saint-Martin in Paris, as the national weather service, Meteo France, placed 54 departments, about half the country, under a red heat wave alert, Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena )
A man runs over a bridge in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Faithful shelter for the hot sun as they wait for Pope Leo's XIV weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
A faithful cools off as they wait for Pope Leo's XIV weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
