President Trump was adamant earlier this spring that he planned to repeat last year’s July 4 spectacle on the National Mall. Seventeen days before Independence Day, though, signs that anything is in the works remain elusive.
The National Park Service is still waiting on an announcement, spokesperson Mike Litterst tells Washingtonian, though he says as far as he knows, the White House is still planning something. A White House spokesperson did not respond with any plans for an event.
A group of local lawmakers has sent a letter in opposition to the event to the Departments of Defense and Interior. DC Mayor Muriel Bowser has said there will be no parade on July 4 and that the city planned to work with Interior on how to manage fireworks. Neither spokespeople for Bowser nor for the Department of the Interior have responded to our queries.
Plans for last year’s event were also scant on details, so perhaps this thing will happen after all.
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.
