Trump posts video of himself on Mount Rushmore ahead of remarks at the national memorial

 President Donald Trump kicked off a weekend of celebrations for America's 250th birthday with a speech at Mount Rushmore on Friday.

Ahead of the speech, Trump posted a video on social depicting a gilded Mount Rushmore with his face chiseled into the national memorial next to Abraham Lincoln, after the White House earlier suggested Trump could be an "addition" to the mountain where the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt are also etched.

"Tomorrow, we mark 250 years of glorious independence and 250 years of majestic American freedom. Nothing like it," Trump said in his opening remarks. 

The birth and survival of the American nation under God is, quite simply, the best and most incredible thing ever to happen on this planet by human hands. Ever. That is ever, ever, ever. No other country has done more good for this world than the United States of America."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump would strike an "optimistic, inspiring tone" in his speech.

"President Trump is set to give an inspiring an optimistic address tonight at Mt Rushmore, where he will answer the age old question, 'What does it mean to be an American?' The speech will also serve as a fierce rebuke to Communism and defend the ideas that make America the greatest country in the history of the world," she said in a statement provided to pool reporters traveling with Trump. 

In the video Trump posted on social media ahead of his speech, a Trump voice-over says, "I will be the greatest president for many, many years to come," before a 3D graphic of Trump set into Mount Rushmore emerges and rotates. "And we're gonna have a lot of fun tonight," the voiceover continues. 

White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in a statement to ABC News earlier Friday: "There would be no better addition to the iconic Mount Rushmore than the 45th and 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump," White House . 

Trump has previously mused about putting his likeness on the granite peak. He called it a "good idea" on social media in 2020. But so far in his second term, there's been no significant movement toward making that a reality.

The White House did not respond to questions about whether there are actual plans to add the president's likeness to Mount Rushmore and, if so, in what capacity. 

Before his speech Friday, Air Force One conducted a flyover over Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota ahead of the president's remarks.

The Mount Rushmore festivities also include performances by military bands and tributes to the Armed Services. It will culminate in a large fireworks display, the first fireworks show at the national memorial in years, according to the National Park Service.

The "Salute to America 250 Celebration & Fireworks" celebration begins Saturday at 7 p.m. in the nation's capital. The president has teased a long speech to mark the occasion, which is being billed as the largest firework display ever held on the National Mall. 

Trump has already called the event the "most spectacular TRUMP RALLY of them all."

Festivities for the nation's 250th anniversary are unfolding as extreme heat blankets much of the country. Trump, though, earlier this week said high temperatures wouldn't stop him from making his remarks in Washington.

Breaking news

 🚨 BREAKING: Ali Khamenei Funeral Underway as World Dignitaries Arrive

🇮🇷 The funeral ceremony for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is now underway, as world leaders, senior officials, and regional dignitaries arrive to pay their respects amid tight security in Tehran.

Thousands of mourners have gathered in the Iranian capital, filling major streets and public squares as funeral prayers and ceremonial tributes continue. State media showed large crowds waving Iranian flags and chanting slogans during the solemn procession.

Leaders and diplomatic representatives from across the Middle East, Asia, and beyond are attending the ceremony, underscoring the global significance of the moment and the potential geopolitical impact of Iran’s leadership transition.

⚠️ Security has been significantly heightened as authorities remain on alert over regional tensions and concerns about possible unrest during the high-profile gathering. Political analysts say the funeral marks a historic turning point that could shape Iran’s domestic politics and regional strategy for years to come.

💬 “The funeral symbolizes both mourning and a major moment of transition for Iran.”

🌍 Global leaders are closely watching developments as questions grow over Iran’s next chapter.

Follow @Global Flashpoint for live global updates.

#iran #ALIKHAMENEI #GlobalFlashpoint #middleeast #tehran

Taylor Swift weds Travis Kelce in Christian Dior wedding dress

 

Taylor Swift said "I do" to Travis Kelce in a Christian Dior Haute Couture wedding gown she collaborated on with designer Jonathan Anderson, a rep for the singer confirmed to ABC News.

Like his bride, Kelce also wore Christian Dior Haute Couture for their wedding ceremony Friday, and the couple both wore custom-made shoes by Christian Louboutin.

Both Swift and Kelce worked "in close collaboration" with Anderson on their wedding ceremony looks, Swift's representative said in a statement.

Swift also accented her look with Cartier jewelry, according to her representative.

No official photos of the wedding have been released by the couple, who hosted a two-day wedding celebration at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Guests including Hugh Grant, Abby Wambach, Jason Sudeikis and Ethan Hawke were seen wearing black-tie attire as they arrived at MSG on Friday.

In choosing Anderson to design her wedding dress, Swift chose a designer just a few years her senior, at 41, and one who was named creative director at Dior just over one year ago.

Heat wave forecast: DC National Mall events disrupted, NYC power grid strained

 A dangerous heat wave is bringing prolonged extreme heat to more than two dozen states across the Midwest, the South and the East Coast into the Fourth of July weekend.

Although the holiday travel rush is in full effect, the heat led Amtrak to cancel more than two dozen trains in the Northeast.

In Washington, D.C., the Great American State Fair abruptly closed midday Friday due to the dangerous temperatures, organizers said. Organizers said the fair was set to reopen at 5 p.m.

D.C. Fire and EMS told ABC News that crews treated 44 patients on the National Mall on Friday, transporting 11 people to local hospitals.

Officials stressed that not all of those cases were heat-related, noting that some patients were treated for injuries and other medical issues unrelated to the extreme temperatures.

In Washington, D.C., the Great American State Fair abruptly closed midday Friday due to the dangerous temperatures, organizers said. Organizers said the fair was set to reopen at 5 p.m.

D.C. Fire and EMS told ABC News that crews treated 44 patients on the National Mall on Friday, transporting 11 people to local hospitals.

Officials stressed that not all of those cases were heat-related, noting that some patients were treated for injuries and other medical issues unrelated to the extreme temperatures.

Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce are married: All the details

 Music superstar Taylor Swift and NFL star Travis Kelce are officially husband and wife.

The couple wed in a ceremony officiated by Adam Sandler in New York City, a representative for Swift confirmed to ABC News on Friday.

Swift's brother, Austin Swift, served as her "man of honor," while Kelce's brother, Jason Kelce, served as his best man. They were the only members of the wedding party, according to the rep.

Music superstar Taylor Swift and NFL star Travis Kelce are officially husband and wife.

The couple wed in a ceremony officiated by Adam Sandler in New York City, a representative for Swift confirmed to ABC News on Friday.

Swift's brother, Austin Swift, served as her "man of honor," while Kelce's brother, Jason Kelce, served as his best man. They were the only members of the wedding party, according to the rep.Both the bride and groom wore custom looks by Dior, with the bride wearing a haute couture gown designed by Jonathan Anderson.

No official wedding photos have been released by the couple, who held a two-day wedding celebration at Madison Square Garden said to include more than 1,000 guests.

Celebrities including actors Hugh Grant, Ethan Hawke and Jason Sudeikis, singer Benson Boone, soccer legend Abby Wambach and NFL stars Chris Jones and Cooper Kupp were photographed arriving at MSG late Friday afternoon in black-tie attire as a cocktail hour was scheduled to begin, sources familiar with the plans told ABC News.The "Shake It Off" singer and Kansas City Chiefs tight end announced their engagement last August in a social media post that included photos of Kelce's flower-filled proposal and a close-up of Swift's old-mine brilliant–cut diamond ring, which ABC News confirmed was custom-designed by Kelce and jeweler Kindred Lubeck of Artifex Fine Jewelry in New York City.

The couple's romance began in the summer of 2023, when Kelce revealed on his "New Heights" podcast that he'd unsuccessfully tried to give Swift a friendship bracelet with his phone number during one of her Eras Tour concerts.

Swift later told TIME she found the gesture "metal as hell," and the two started spending time together soon after.

By November 2023, Kelce confirmed their relationship in an interview with WSJ. Magazine, praising Swift's ability to handle intense public scrutiny.

Swift, meanwhile, revealed in her December 2023 TIME Person of the Year interview that the couple had enjoyed private time together before going public.

"We actually had a significant amount of time that no one knew, which I'm grateful for, because we got to get to know each other," she said at the time.

Throughout their relationship, the pair have been each other's biggest supporters, with Swift attending Chiefs games, including Super Bowl LVIII and Super Bowl LIX, and Kelce cheering Swift on at numerous Eras Tour stops, even joining her onstage during her London show in June 2024.

Scroll below to see some of the wedding guests arriving Friday at Madison

It’s inexplicable:' Venezuelan mother loses husband in earthquake after deportation

 Less than 10 days ago, Johana Pineda lived in Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband, Richard Pereira, and their 7-year-old son, Richie. The couple worked for Amazon, and their son attended martial arts classes during summer break.

Pineda and her son are now in Venezuela after the family was deported, and her husband is dead. Pereira was killed on June 24 when a hotel near Caracas that housed more than 100 people who were deported from the U.S. collapsed during deadly earthquakes that struck the coast of Venezuela.

Over 2,500 people have died as a result of last week's earthquakes, Venezuelan officials said, and nearly 50,000 remain unaccounted for, according to the Internati

"It's inexplicable," Pineda told ABC News in Spanish.

Pineda said she and her family entered the U.S. in 2022 on humanitarian parole. They initiated the asylum process and complied with routine check-ins for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including one in December.

But in June, Pineda said, immigration authorities during a check-in presented two options: detention or voluntary departure. She told ABC News that her family chose to leave to avoid detention.

Pineda said ICE agents informed the couple that they had until August 15 to depart the U.S. but required weekly check-ins and ordered them to wear ankle monitors. 

We went back that Monday," Pineda said. "And the [ICE] agent said, 'Everything is ready, and you are all leaving today.'"

"I started to cry," she said. "My son was listening to everything. My husband, who never cries, started to tear up."

Pineda said the family was detained and transported to Texas, where they were held until Wednesday before their deportation. Upon arriving in Venezuela, Pineda said, she and the other deportees were taken to a hotel near La Guaira. She said she was separated from her husband because men and women were housed in different rooms.

That afternoon, the building collapsed during the deadly earthquakes.

"I grabbed my son to protect him," she said. "I hugged him and protected him with my body. I never lost sight of him."

Pineda said she searched for an exit in the rubble.

"When the light came in, I saw a hole," she said. "I couldn't get out, but my son could. He began to scream for help, and I screamed, too.""They pulled him out, but he was severely injured and did not survive," she said.

Pineda buried her husband on Wednesday, one week after their deportation and the earthquake.

Pineda and her son were rescued. She told ABC News that the following day, she learned that her husband died from injuries at a hospital.

"We always tried to do the right thing," she added.

In a statement to ABC News, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the June 24 flight "safely reached Venezuela, and all individuals on board were returned."

When an individual is no longer in ICE custody, ICE is no longer responsible for them," the spokesperson added.

"They don't care if you have a life or a family," Pineda said. "They only care about deporting."

Pineda said the hardest thing to accept is the loss of her husband, whom she had known since she was 13.

"It is difficult because I lost my friend and my husband," she said. "My son is left without his dad. Why did this happen? You try to do things the right way so that bad things don't happen."

Related Topics

FBI will have nuclear-detecting plane, drone-takeover technology to guard July Fourth celebrations

 There will be unprecedented levels of security around the country for the United States' 250th birthday celebrations over the weekend, according to a top FBI official, and the government will have the latest technology at its disposal including being able to take over drones and a nuclear-detecting plane.

FBI Co-Deputy Director Christopher Raia told ABC News' Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas that it's an "all hands on deck" situation.

"We have several of our resources, the vast majority of our resources right now dedicated in one shape or another to protecting our citizens and our visitors who have come here to enjoy themselves," Raia said. "Whether it's at a FIFA match, whether it's at America 250, or whether it's at one of these other great celebrations around the country."

In Washington, D.C., authorities are raising the celebrations on the National Mall and surrounding areas to the highest security level. Officials have said they are not currently tracking any credible threats.

There are nearly 19 miles of anti-scale fencing, 3.5 miles of road closures, 3 miles of the Potomac River are closed and thousands of federal agents and nearly all of the Metropolitan Police Department officers will be working in sweltering temperatures.

For the first time, the annual Fourth of July fireworks display on the National Mall will be designated a "National Special Security Event," with security levels on par with presidential inaugurations. People entering the National Mall grounds will have to pass through TSA-like screening, said Tara McLeese, the Secret Service Special Agent in charge of the Washington field office.

In years past "you could just walk up and put a lawn chair and a blanket out. That will be different this year," she said. "You won't be able to just show up. There will be specific places, designated places to go through security before you can get on the Mall."

In the air, teams from the National Nuclear Security Administration will be scanning for any hazardous material in Washington.

"We are flying missions to make sure that there are no radiological threats. But this is just the part that you see -- we also have a lot of people with radiation detectors and backpacks that are traversing the Mall and maintaining that constant presence," Brandon Williams, the administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration told ABC News. "The truth is we've been there in the background for decades on all of these kinds of major events."

We have technology now that we're able to take control of those drones and either send them back to their pilot, which is good for us -- now we figure out who the pilot is, we can interview that person, get investigative leads, see if there's something more to it -- or we can send that to a what we call a designated safe zone," he said.

Independence Day celebrations come in the most challenging threat environment since 9/11, with the ongoing terror threat, a rise in political violence and continuing fears about lone-wolf offenders, according to Raia.

"In this job, people ask me all the time, 'What keeps you up at night?' and that lone offender threat that we just talked about, ... that is the one that keeps me up at night and that is the one that we are going to be working feverishly as an agency. We will continue to work every angle,” he said. "Analytics, intelligence, enforcement, everything to make sure that our Americans are protected not only during 250, celebration of FIFA, but every day across the country."