US turns 250 as Trump warns of 'attack' on American identity

Washington, United States: America turns 250 on Saturday. The independence anniversary also comes in the middle of a brutal heatwave that has placed some 160 million Americans under major or extreme heat warnings, playing havoc with planned parades and block parties in towns and cities across much of the country.

But the searing temperatures have done little to deter President Donald Trump, who has gone to great lengths to ensure the event becomes, in large part, a celebration of himself.

On Saturday evening, Trump will hold a huge campaign-style political rally on the National Mall in the capital Washington, along with roaring military flyovers and what he has touted as the world's biggest fireworks display.

"It's going to be approximately 107 degrees (41C) out, and I'm going to go and I'm going to make a really long speech -- just to show that I can do anything," he earlier said.

Late Friday, the president visited the Mount Rushmore national monument for an address under the gaze of the giant granite heads of four of his legendary predecessors.

'Menace in our land' 

While he lauded American exceptionalism and praised the country's past leaders, he said that the American identity was "under a renewed attack."

On Friday, Trump said there has been an attempt to "beat the American spirit out of us, alienate us from our history" in recent years.

Celebration and reflection

For Americans, the 250th festivities offer a moment for reflection as well as celebration.

After two and a half centuries of triumphs and tragedies, slavery and freedom, civil war and world wars, multiple surveys indicate a nation divided about where it is and where it's going.