Donald Trump launched America’s 250th birthday festivities with a trip to Mount Rushmore, joined by his son Don Jr. and Don Jr.’s new wife, Bettina, as Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce tied the knot in what was billed as the celebrity wedding of the century.
The President was accompanied by the newlyweds, along with his daughter Tiffany and her husband, Michael Boulos, as the group boarded the new Air Force One on Friday night for South Dakota.
Soon afterward, Swift and Kelce exchanged vows during a lavish ceremony at Madison Square Garden, with comedian Adam Sandler presiding over the event.
Once aboard the aircraft, Bettina shared an Instagram photo of an oversized cookie decorated with Mount Rushmore — including Trump’s likeness added alongside the landmark’s famous faces.
Before departing, members of the group posted photos from the Great American State Fair in Washington, DC, where they appeared to enjoy the festivities.
Tiffany and Bettina also squeezed in a quick mirror selfie at the Presidential Walk of Fame, located along the White House’s West Colonnade.
The visit marks Trump’s high-profile return to Mount Rushmore National Memorial, six years after he staged a contentious pre-Fourth of July event there during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The president arrived in South Dakota after a flyover of the iconic sculpture, which is carved into the Black Hills.
Former homeland security secretary Kristi Noem was then serving as South Dakota governor and embraced a hands-off approach to the virus, allowing the mass gathering to happen despite the health risks.
Donald Trump boarding the new Air Force One on Friday night at Joint Base Andrews
Air Force One is seen here performing a flyover at Mount Rushmore National Memorial on Friday night
The President took to the skies as Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce married in a ceremony at Madison Square Garden
Bettina Trump, Michael Boulos, who is partially obstructed, Tiffany and Don Jr leaving the White House on Friday night alongside White House aide Natalie Harp
Bettina and Tiffany in a mirror selfie along the Presidential Walk of Fame before heading for Mount Rushmore
There were also environmental concerns.
The fireworks display that year was the first since 2009, after the National Park Service stopped them due to wildfire risk.
Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic ultimately cost him reelection in 2020.
But on Friday, the President will fly into South Dakota on his new Qatari-gifted Air Force One.
The fireworks ban, reinstated during President Joe Biden’s tenure, has been lifted again.
There is even a bill in Congress, introduced by Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna, to have Trump’s face added to Mount Rushmore, which features Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt.
The event is part of the Trumpified celebration of America’s 250th birthday, organized by Freedom 250, the group that Trump created by executive order last January to take control of the country’s semiquincentennial festivities.
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Congress had already created a bipartisan commission, dubbed America250, back in 2016 to plan the events.
Not long after boarding Bettina posted an image to her Instagram showing a large cookie emblazoned with a picture of the iconic monument with Trump’s likeness added
Don Jr and Bettina boarding the new Air Force One on Friday evening
Mount Rushmore hovers over the stage set up for Trump’s appearance in Keystone, South Dakota, on Friday
The dueling groups have caused headaches, including the mass cancellation of musicians booked to play the Great American State Fair, when the artists realized it was being organized by the more partisan entity.
The Great American State Fair has also been plagued by power outages, low attendance and extremely hot weather.
Washington, DC, reached 100 degrees Friday afternoon, with the fair postponed for several hours due to the intensity of the heat.
The Mount Rushmore event is happening amid drought conditions in the state.
Ahead of the event, state and federal agencies were going to make a go-or-no-go call on the fireworks display.
The US Wildland Fire Service also created a fire response plan for the Mount Rushmore fireworks, Politico reported.
Trump is expected to touch back down in Washington in the early hours of Saturday morning ahead of the Salute to America celebration on the National Mall.
The stage is assembled on Thursday ahead of the President’s arrival
Trump held a Mount Rushmore fireworks event on July 3, 2020, a controversial move amid the COVID-19 pandemic
The President watched a Navy Blue Angels flyover display during the event
That event is also being threatened by extreme heat – it’s supposed to reach 101 degrees in DC on Saturday.
But Trump remained undeterred.
‘On July Fourth, it’s going to be approximately 107 degrees out, and I’m gonna go, and I’m gonna make a really long speech just to show that I can do anything,’ the 80-year-old President said Wednesday during his trip to North Dakota to open the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.
The President is expected to speak after sundown, around 9.45pm ET, organizers said, with the ‘world’s largest fireworks display’ slated for 10.30pm.
That means if Trump’s speech runs long, the DC fireworks show could drag into July 5.
