Extreme heat bears down as America 250 celebrations ramp up. Trump heads to Mount Rushmore

WASHINGTON (AP) — Festivities commemorating the 250th anniversary of American independence ramped up across the United States on Friday as demonstrations of national pride — and hints of political polarization — were balanced with efforts to stay safe as much of the country baked under extreme heat.

President Donald Trump was on his way to South Dakota to deliver a speech and watch fireworks at Mount Rushmore, where storms swept through before his arrival. And in a novel twist, there will be a ball drop in New York City’s Times Square at midnight to usher in the July Fourth holiday with much the same revelry that is typically reserved for New Year’s Eve.

The sound of fighter jets on military flyovers shook the nation’s capital. In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivered his own address on the country’s 250th anniversary that cast America as a nation of contradictions “working each day towards the perfection in which it was conceived.”

By early afternoon in Washington, hundreds of people were roaming the grounds of the National Mall, home to The Great American State Fair. They snapped photos of the flyovers and tried to coo...