On the Fourth of July, President Donald Trump held a massive celebration in Washington, D.C., featuring military flyovers, a campaign-style speech, and a record fireworks display to mark the nation’s 250th birthday. However, extreme heat—with temperatures reaching 100°F—forced the cancellation of the city’s traditional parade and led to the evacuation of the National Mall when a thunderstorm approached, sparking chaos as some attendees refused to leave. Trump later posted on Truth Social that the heat was milder than forecast and that the crowd size was remarkable, though the weather disrupted many planned events across the eastern U.S., where over 160 million people were under heat warnings, according to the National Weather Service.