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U.S. President Donald Trump is set to kick off America's 250th birthday weekend Friday with a trip to Mount Rushmore, where he will deliver a speech beneath the giant granite heads of four former presidents on the eve of Independence Day.
Trump will speak at the national monument in South Dakota, where the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt are carved into rock.
The visit comes as Trump seeks to place himself at the center of the United States' major anniversary celebrations.
Republican supporters of Trump have introduced legislation to have his likeness carved beside the four presidents already featured at Mount Rushmore.
On July Fourth, Trump is scheduled to hold a campaign-style political rally on the National Mall in Washington, along with military jet flyovers and what he has described as the world's biggest fireworks display.
"Trump likes the spotlight, and I think he's trying to take the spotlight," Peter Loge, director of George Washington University's School of Media, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Trump, a billionaire former reality TV star, has repeatedly presented himself as a political showman and has taken a central role in the anniversary events.
His July Fourth plans include a rally-style event in Washington and a major fireworks display.
Trump said Wednesday that he would not be deterred by the heat.
"On July 4 it's going to be approximately 107 degrees (41C) out, and I'm going to go and I'm going to make a really long speech -- just to show that I can do anything," he said.
The events come after Trump hosted a widely criticized Ultimate Fighting Championship cage fight on the White House lawn, during which one fighter shouted the false claim that former first lady Michelle Obama "is a man."
Trump's attempts to shape the 250th anniversary celebrations have not always gone according to plan.
A Trump-linked organization called Freedom 250 has taken control of many festivities from the bipartisan America250 group, leading many people to stay away from key events.
A "Great American State Fair" in the capital, designed as a celebration of the country's birthday, has drawn sparse crowds and widespread mockery over empty booths.
A record-breaking heat wave also kept many visitors away, while those who attended Friday morning had to gather in small areas of shade outside pavilions.
The celebrations come as the United States remains politically divided during what is traditionally a moment of national unity.
Trump's approval ratings are near historic lows, driven largely by the war in Iran and the cost of living. His Democratic opponents have criticized him over his immigration policies, family wealth and attempts to expand presidential power.
In an appearance posted Friday on second lady Usha Vance's podcast, Trump referred to the country's divisions when asked why children should celebrate Saturday's anniversary.
"We have a great country. We have a country that is under a little bit of a ledge right now," Trump said.
"It can go one way or another, you understand that, but we're going to go the other," he added.
As the United States marks 250 years of triumphs and tragedies, slavery and freedom, civil war and world wars, surveys show many Americans are pessimistic about the future of the "American Dream."
A Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday showed 61% of Americans said the U.S. was not living up to the ideals stated in the Declaration of Independence.
Views remained divided along party lines, with most Republicans saying the country was living up to those ideals and most Democrats saying it was not.
"The Fourth of July really is a moment of freedom, but I have to be honest, in these political times, it hasn't been as exciting to me over the last few years," Amy Kimaara, a 49-year-old special education teacher wearing a Team USA jersey, told AFP in Los Angeles.
Trump is increasingly using the 250th anniversary celebrations as a platform to rally political support for Republicans and himself ahead of the U.S. midterm elections in November.
Republicans fear Trump's unpopularity could cost them control of Congress, which could leave Trump facing a record third impeachment.
Still, some Americans said the political atmosphere does not change the meaning of the holiday.
"I think it's been politicized, but that doesn't change that the Fourth of July is a great holiday for all of us," said Matt Jarvis, 55, an entrepreneur from Los Angeles.
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