WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump treated the kickoff Wednesday to the Great American State Fair as a victory lap for the U.S.— and for himself.Limited time: Save 25% on NBC News subscriptionGet exclusive reporting, live Q&As and ad-free reading.“Tonight, as we stand at the edge of our 250th year, I am thrilled to declare that America is back,” Trump said in a speech on the National Mall.
“As you know very well, a short time ago we were a dead country.We were dead.
Now we’re the hottest country anywhere in the world.We’re respected by everybody.
Nobody’s laughing at us anymore.” The event, organized by Freedom 250, a public-private partnership created by Trump that labels itself as a nonpartisan nonprofit organization, marked the beginning of the 16-day exposition, envisioned as a modern-day world’s fair to celebrate America’s 250th birthday.Planning for the event stirred controversy last month when several musical artists booked to perform, including rapper Young MC and country singer Martina McBride, backed out, citing concerns about the political nature of an event backed by the Trump White House.
Trump seized on the development as an opportunity to write himself into the lineup as the headliner.But it was an unusually short rally-style speech from a president who often goes longer than an hour.
He wrapped up his remarks in about 30 minutes and did not appear to wander off script.Trump decided to speak at the kickoff for the event on the National Mall after a number of musicians pulled out, concerned about the partisan nature of the fair.Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images“This anniversary is a time to be proud of our past, but it is also a time to lift our sights, expand our ambitions and raise our expectations of what America can be,” Trump said.“We will leave our children nothing less than the richest inheritance, most advanced civilization and highest standard of living in human history.
There’s never been anything lik...