Washington: Declaring that "nothing is impossible" for Americans, President Donald Trump celebrated the Independence Day with an unprecedented display of the country's military might at a rain-soaked parade but surprised his critics with a speech that was devoid of his trademark political rhetoric, ahead of his 2020 re-election bid.
In one of the least polarising speeches of his presidency, Trump paid tribute to America's armed forces at a July Fourth appearance before the Lincoln Memorial in Washington that was held amid criticism that the Commander-in-Chief was politicising America's Independence Day celebrations.
As the Abrams tanks rumbled, fighter aircraft, including a B-2 bomber and a pair of F-35 warplanes roared overhead and the jumbo jet used as Air Force One performed a rare flyover over the National Mall, Trump said, "For Americans, nothing is impossible."
"Our nation is stronger today than it ever was before," he said and emphasised that the country's future "rests on the shoulders of men and women willing to defend it."
"As long as we stay true to our cause, as long as we remember our great history and as long as we never stop fighting for a better future, then there will be nothing that America cannot do," he asserted in his 'Salute to America' address.
"We will always be the people who defeated a tyrant, crossed a continent, harnessed science, took to the skies, and soared into the heavens, because we will never forget that we are Americans, and the future belongs to us."
Trump, 73, became the first US President in over 70 years to deliver an Independence Day address which the Opposition Democratic leaders criticised for what they alleged politicisation of the country's declaration of independence from Britain on July 4, 1776.
Unlike other countries, the annual celebration of the American
Independence Day on July 4 is traditionally not marked by any military parade. Previous presidents have taken a low profile at independence commemorations.