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Trump announces 'Salute to America' on Fourth of July in D.C.

By Allen Cone
Fourth of July fireworks explode explode above the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol as part of the nation's celebration of independence on July 4, 2018. File photo by Pat Benic/UPI
1 of 2 | Fourth of July fireworks explode explode above the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol as part of the nation's celebration of independence on July 4, 2018. File photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 24 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump announced Sunday "one of the biggest gatherings in the history of Washington, D.C." on Fourth of July.

Trump posted on Twitter plans for "A Salute To America" at Lincoln Memorial, which will include a "Major fireworks display, entertainment and an address by your favorite President, me!"

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Earlier this month, he mentioned during a White House Cabinet meeting in front of reporters that he wanted an Independence Day extravaganza, saying it could "become a tradition."

However a parade takes place in the city, and a concert and fireworks display is held later that night at the U.S. Capitol. The event is televised on PBS and draws hundreds of thousands that spills past the West Lawn of the Capitol and onto the National Mall, including the Lincoln Memorial.

"We will be having one of the biggest gatherings in the history of Washington, D.C., on July 4th," Trump tweeted Sunday.

The National Park Service, which is in charge of the National Mall, hasn't listed crowd sizes there since the Million Man March in 1995.

An estimated 1.8 million people attended the 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama though Trump has boasted his crowd was as large in 2017.

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Frequent marches and protests have drawn big crowds. Organizers for the March for Our Lives gun-control demonstration said it drew an estimated 800,000 protesters last March. And an estimated 600,000 attended the inaugural Women's March on 2017.

Originally, Trump had wanted a military parade in the nation's Capital on Independence Day but when the Defense Department officials determined it could cost as much as $92 million, Trump scrapped the plans last August.

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