US celebrates 250th birthday with fireworks, flyovers and football
Trump capped off his remarks by calling the moment “only the dawn of the golden age of America” with its destiny “written by God”.
Celebrations in Washington DC were delayed because of a thunderstorm, which forced an evacuation of the National Mall earlier in the evening.
Guests attending the Salute to America, the Great American State Fair and Fifa fan zone were asked to seek temporary shelter in a nearby buildings.
Once the storm had passed, festivities began again, including a flyover featuring the new Air Force One and a concert.
The grande finale – the fireworks show – was marked by a massive flurry of blasts, concluding at about 01:00 local time (06:00 GMT). The small crowd on Capitol Hill cheered before rapidly walking towards the exits as it began to lightly rain.
People travelled across the country to attend, including Tammy Wapshott, who travelled from South Carolina and had been planning her trip to Washington DC since last November.
She told the BBC she had come to celebrate “the best country in the world” where all were “free to do what we wanna do”.
Around 400 members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front were seen carrying US flags while marching in unison through the streets of the capital.
Videos posted on social media show the masked, uniformed members marching near the Capitol building and Union Station, the city’s main passenger rail hub.
