A high-ranking member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is behind the purchase of a historic building just hundreds of feet from the White House, according to a new investigation.
The Philip Qiu and Family Foundation purchased the Securities Building, located approximately 650 feet northeast of the White House grounds, for $8.4 million on July 21, <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/08/13/exclusive-ccp-intel-official-building-purchase-steps-from-white-house/">according</a> to the Daily Caller. 
The foundation&#8217;s namesake, Philip Qiu, has held multiple positions in Chinese government, security, and organizations linked to the Chinese Communist Party&#8217;s United Front Work Department, the Caller reported. 
“The CCP is like a kind, but firm parent,” Qiu said in 2021, according to the Caller&#8217;s translation of a Chinese announcement. “It has guided our people out of hardship, led China’s sons and daughters to build a new country and is steering us toward great national rejuvenation.”
The purchase has raised national security concerns due to both Qiu&#8217;s background and the building&#8217;s proximity to the White House. Former CIA operations officer Bryan Dean Wright told the Caller that a property in such a location could be used for intelligence collection, including as a listening post or for collecting electronic communications.
Qiu, whose Chinese name is Qiu Feili, began his career as a detective with the Criminal Investigation Team in Shanghai, which is part of Shanghai&#8217;s Public Security Bureau, a subordinate to China&#8217;s Ministry of Public Security. 
The Caller investigation also found that Qiu has held at least three positions in organizations connected to the CCP&#8217;s United Front Work Department, whose activities the House Select Committee on the CCP has described as a combination of influence and intelligence operations.
Among those positions, Qiu has served since 2021 as chairman of the Shanghai Overseas Chinese Foundation (SOCF), which operates within Shanghai&#8217;s United Front system. At a 2021 foundation meeting, Qiu pledged that the organization would carry out Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s orders on overseas Chinese affairs, often referring to the CCP as “our party,” according to the Caller. 
The Philip Qiu and Family Foundation is also connected to the Chinese American Museum in Washington, D.C. (CAMDC), which Qiu co-founded in 2017 with Chen Xiaoping, also known as Neil Chen. Chen previously chaired the SOCF and has held several positions in the Chinese government.
The museum says it is not &#8220;funded, controlled, or influenced by any foreign government,&#8221; but the Caller found that Chinese government entities have co-sponsored at least eight of its programs. Four reportedly received support from religious entities controlled by the United Front Work Department.
Michael Lucci, CEO of the national security advocacy group State Armor, told the Caller that the risks posed by Qiu&#8217;s ownership of the property were &#8220;screamingly obvious&#8221; and urged the federal government to intervene.
At the time of publication, Qiu and the CAMDC had not responded to The Daily Wire’s request for comment.

Chinese Intel Asset Buys Real Estate On White House Doorstep

China

Chinese Communist Party

Philip Qiu

Washington D.C.

White House

The Washington D.C. Council’s pathetic, politically charged attempts to kick the National Guard out of the nation’s capital have hit a brick wall, with the Department of Justice firing back.
In a scathing letter that pulls no punches, Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald shredded the council’s efforts to pressure state governors into recalling their troops, labeling the move &#8220;impotent theatrics&#8221; that aren&#8217;t worth the paper they&#8217;re written on.
“I am not surprised that your recent letter to state governors regarding the National Guard feigns ignorance of the historic public safety strides made in our Nation&#8217;s capital since August 11, 2025,” McDonald wrote, effectively telling the local politicians to wake up and look at the safe streets they are currently presiding over.
The council, apparently nostalgic for the days of out-of-control chaos, has tried to frame the presence of the Guard as an unwelcome occupation. McDonald wasn&#8217;t having it. He laid out the cold, hard reality: since President Trump declared a crime emergency on August 11, 2025, the city has undergone a miraculous transformation.
The DOJ official didn&#8217;t hesitate to call out the council’s own hypocrisy. He unearthed a quote from D.C. Councilmember Trayon White, who signed the letter demanding the Guard leave, describing D.C. as a &#8220;war zone” in 2023. At the time, White begged for the very resources the council is now trying to banish, complaining that the community lacked officers and resources. Now that the &#8220;war&#8221; is actually being won, the council has developed a convenient case of amnesia.
The results, however, are impossible to ignore. Thanks to the Task Force and the National Guard, D.C. has experienced the largest reduction in violent crime in its entire history. While the council whines about &#8220;outside forces,&#8221; the Guard is out there doing the work: taking illegal guns off the streets, conducting thousands of arrests, protecting critical infrastructure, and literally saving lives by intervening in assaults and administering life-saving Narcan to citizens in peril.
McDonald lauded these troops as &#8220;true American heroes,&#8221; noting they are serving selflessly to restore order while local officials prioritize political grandstanding over public safety.
On November 26, 2025, two members of the West Virginia National Guard deployed to Washington, D.C., were shot in an ambush-style attack outside the Farragut West Metro station, two blocks from the White House. U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from her injuries on Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 2025. U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, was critically injured in the attack but survived. Authorities arrested Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who had entered the U.S. in 2021. He was charged with first-degree murder, assault with intent to kill, and firearm offenses. He pleaded not guilty.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
PSA: The D.C. City Council sent letters to 10 governors whose National Guard members are serving in D.C., demanding that these brave men and women be removed from our nation&#39;s capital.
This Department of Justice will not stand for these politically motivated demands. We will… <a href="https://t.co/tgCMTDLB1G">pic.twitter.com/tgCMTDLB1G</a>
&mdash; U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) <a href="https://x.com/TheJusticeDept/status/2087644337274331313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 12, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The message from the DOJ to the council was simple and brutal: You have zero power to kick them out, so stop the noise. Instead of slandering the men and women in uniform, the council should focus on their actual jobs: fixing the city&#8217;s broken laws to ensure real criminals are finally punished.
&#8220;My office is available to assist you in this regard,&#8221; McDonald concluded with a sting.
As for the Guard? They’re staying.

President Trump Claims Credit After DC Crime Plummets

‘Impotent Theatrics’: DOJ Blasts D.C. Council For Trying To Boot National Guard

Department of Justice

National Guard

WASHINGTON — One year after President Donald Trump began his mission to &#8220;Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful&#8221; again, the nation&#8217;s capital is noticeably cleaner and safer.
The president declared a crime emergency on August 11 of last year and launched a federal surge soon afterward as part of his &#8220;Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force.&#8221; Trump was determined to clean up the streets and monuments of the city and to put criminals behind bars, spurred on by the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, a Capitol Hill intern.
Washington is not the same place it was a year ago. As of August 2026, the city&#8217;s fountains are running again. Graffiti is cleaned off most major monuments. National Guardsmen stroll the streets and chat with tourists and families.
&#8220;This has been the largest, most aggressive law enforcement collaboration ever assembled to confront crime in a major American city,&#8221; the U.S. Marshals shared in a press release, describing how &#8220;federal, state, and local law enforcement&#8221; stood &#8220;shoulder to shoulder with the National Guard, refusing to accept violence as the status quo in Washington, D.C.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1154759" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-what-trumps-d-c-crackdown-accomplished-one-year-later/trump-increases-federal-law-enforcement-presence-deploys-national-guard-in-nations-capital-14" rel="attachment wp-att-1154759"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1154759" class="wp-image-1154759 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2232835059.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2232835059.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2232835059-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2232835059-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2232835059-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>(Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)</div>
Trump&#8217;s efforts to clean up D.C. resulted in over 16,000 arrests, the U.S. Marshals shared. Thirty-five homicide suspects were apprehended, and authorities found 25 missing children and returned them to their homes. Authorities took more than 100 gang members off the streets and made more than 3,200 narcotics arrests. They also seized almost 2,000 illegal firearms.
Newly confirmed Attorney General Todd Blanche described the Justice Department&#8217;s efforts, in collaboration with their law enforcement partners, as &#8220;extraordinary.&#8221;
&#8220;More than 16,000 arrests, thousands of illegal drugs and firearms taken off the streets, and dangerous violent offenders brought to justice mean safer neighborhoods and lives protected,&#8221; he said in a statement. &#8220;We will not relent until every community in Washington, D.C., is safe.&#8221;
In September 2025, the task force tracked down two suspects in Tarpinian-Jachym&#8217;s killing, 17-year-old Jailen Lucas and 17-year-old Kelvin Thomas, as well as a third suspect, 18-year-old Naqwan Lucas, who was apprehended in October 2025. Lucas was also charged with the murder of 17-year-old Zoey Kelley.
The task force additionally arrested 19-year-old Laurence Cotton-Powell and 18-year-old Anthony Taylor for violently attacking and beating a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer.
<div id="attachment_1154755" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-what-trumps-d-c-crackdown-accomplished-one-year-later/vp-vance-and-defense-secretary-hegseth-visit-federal-law-enforcement-officers-patrolling-at-d-c-s-union-station-3" rel="attachment wp-att-1154755"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1154755" class="wp-image-1154755 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2230417689.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2230417689.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2230417689-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2230417689-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2230417689-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>(Photo by Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images)</div>
And in January, the task force captured three confirmed MS-13 gang members who were wanted on first-degree murder warrants for shooting a 14-year-old boy in Prince George&#8217;s County, Maryland.
&#8220;This operation shows the relentless dedication we have to investigate and apprehend the most violent, dangerous fugitives,&#8221; Gadyaces S. Serralta, director of the U.S. Marshals Service, shared in a statement. &#8220;When law enforcement works together, the impact is exponential. The D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force is proof of that the whole-of-government approach works.”
Two National Guardsmen were ambushed while they were serving under the task force. On November 26, 2025, a shooter targeted Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe of the West Virginia Air National Guard and Army National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom. Beckstrom was killed by the gunman, while Wolfe continues to recover from his wounds.
&#8220;Sgt. Sarah Beckstrom gave the last full measure of devotion, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe endured a profound sacrifice in service to others,&#8221; said Brigadier General Leland D. Blanchard II, Commanding General (Interim) of the District of Columbia National Guard. &#8220;Their courage will forever be part of this mission’s legacy. We honor them by carrying the work forward -united in purpose, steadfast in service, and committed to protect the people of Washington, D.C.&#8221;

President Trump Signs An Executive Order In The White House’s South Court Auditorium

Here’s What Trump’s D.C. Crackdown Accomplished, One Year Later

Crime

Donald Trump

Shooting

Trump Administration

President Donald Trump on Monday escalated his criticism of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, accusing one of his longtime allies of “choking” after her office dropped criminal charges against a former Olympian accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
In the Oval Office, Trump expressed frustration with Pirro, who was appointed U.S. attorney in part because of her close relationship with the president.
“I was disappointed with Jeanine Pirro, really disappointed with Jeanine Pirro. She folded like an umbrella, and people get away with things, and it&#8217;s a disgrace,” Trump told reporters. 
The president was referring to news that broke Friday, when Pirro’s office determined that the damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool stemmed from faulty construction rather than vandalism.
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<div>White House reporter Jake Traylor <a href="https://x.com/jake__traylor/status/2084383023164743844?s=20">spotted</a> Pirro arriving at the West Wing following Trump’s remarks.</div>
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The Daily Wire asked the White House whether Pirro’s job was in jeopardy following Trump’s criticism. The administration referred back to the president’s public comments without offering further clarification.
Pirro moved to drop criminal charges against David Hearn, a former U.S. Olympian, whom prosecutors accused of deliberately damaging the pool during a sweeping renovation project for America&#8217;s 250th anniversary. <a href="https://legacy.www.documentcloud.org/documents/28528042-260731-hearn">In a motion to dismiss the case</a>, the U.S. Attorney&#8217;s Office for the District of Columbia blamed “flawed installation” by contractor Atlantic Industrial Coatings for the damage, admitting that newly produced evidence “undermines the evidentiary basis” for the indictment.
Over the weekend, Trump said he “100%” disagreed with Pirro’s decision in a scathing <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117021210137447022">Truth Social</a> post, and on Monday, he doubled down on his objection while speaking at the White House.
&#8220;The judge was extremely unfriendly to Jeanine and, frankly, I think she choked because the judge was really vicious,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://x.com/Acyn/status/2084348330214387762?s=20">said</a>. &#8220;Instead of going after the people that did it, the judge went after her and went after her department.&#8221;
“I guess she choked. I don&#8217;t know what the hell happened,” he added. 
It marked a dramatic reversal for Pirro, who had secured a grand jury indictment against the three-time Olympian just weeks earlier, alleging he ripped a piece of sealant from the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool with his bare hands. Hearn, 67, was facing a felony count of destruction of property following his. June 19 arrest in the nation’s capital, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-lincoln-memorial-reflecting-pool-case-just-took-a-turn-for-an-ex-olympian">The Daily Wire</a> previously reported.
Attorneys for Hearn <a href="https://x.com/ryanjreilly/status/2072768984160534736?s=20">said</a> their client was innocent and that the grand jury charges were “outrageous and should be alarming to every American.”
“This was a deliberate act to damage the Reflecting Pool at the National Mall that members of the National Park Service actually have worked hard to restore,” Pirro said at a July 2 press conference. “We can state and prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he caused damage, and that damage is over $1,000.”
On June 19, Hearn, a former Olympic canoeist, was on a bike ride when he stopped to see the Reflecting Pool after viral reports of algae in the water, describing himself to ABC News as a “curious, concerned citizen<a href="https://abcnews.com/Politics/olympian-arrested-reflecting-pool-damage/story?id=134078925%5C%5C" target="_blank" rel="noopener">.</a>” 
That’s when U.S. Park Police warned, then arrested, the former Olympian after he touched a piece of blue coating. Prosecutors say he later tore two square feet of sealant from the bottom of the pool, an account Hearn denies.
“I saw a piece of this loose end of this blue coating … I reached out and touched the end of that piece that was loose but still attached to the bottom,” Hearn told ABC News. “I was able to reach out and touch the edge that was still attached at the bottom and handled it a little bit.”
At the time, federal prosecutors painted a different picture of the incident. 
“Our evidence further shows that the National Park Service employees observed Hearn actually forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner with both hands,” Pirro said in July, adding that witnesses described Hearn’s behavior as “belligerent” and “disrespectful.”
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The dismissal of the case marks a setback for Trump, who has repeatedly railed against damage and negative publicity surrounding iconic landmarks he has pushed to restore, calling alleged vandals “SICK, DERANGED PEOPLE!”
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Man Suspected Of 2012 Benghazi Attack In Libya Is In US Custody

Pirro Arrives At White House After Trump Says She ‘Choked,’ ‘Folded Like an Umbrella’

David Heard

DC Attorney

Jeanine Pirro

Lincoln Memorial

monuments

News

Politics

President Trump

Reflecting Pool

Vandalism

President Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled a $22.5 billion plan to overhaul Washington Dulles International Airport, calling the longtime gateway to the nation&#8217;s capital &#8220;one of the worst airports anywhere in the world.&#8221; 
&#8220;It&#8217;s considered one of the worst airports anywhere in the world, we&#8217;re going to make it maybe the best with some hard work,&#8221; Trump said. “This transformation is another step in our ongoing efforts to make Washington, D.C., safe and beautiful again.” 
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1146823" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.19-PM-1.png" alt="" width="1298" height="722" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.19-PM-1.png 1298w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.19-PM-1-300x167.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.19-PM-1-1024x570.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.19-PM-1-768x427.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1298px) 100vw, 1298px" /></div>
Trump said he expected the project to draw bipartisan support.
“Whether you’re Republican or Democrat, you don’t want to go and be subjected to this airport,” he said.
The proposal would replace aging concourses, add a new parking garage, modernize security screening and baggage handling, expand the AeroTrain system, and improve pedestrian access throughout the airport. 
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Transportation officials said the project will take years to complete and create thousands of jobs.  
Located about 25 miles west of downtown Washington, Dulles opened in 1962 and recorded its busiest year on record in 2025.
The federal government will partner with United Airlines and the  Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) to complete the transformation, though officials have not disclosed how the project&#8217;s cost will be divided.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1146827" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.36-PM.png" alt="" width="1308" height="714" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.36-PM.png 1308w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.36-PM-300x164.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.36-PM-1024x559.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-29-at-7.56.36-PM-768x419.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1308px) 100vw, 1308px" /></div>
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby called Dulles “the gateway that connects the nation’s capital to the world” and said the modernization project would make the airport a “showcase for the nation’s capital.”
 The Department of Transportation said it reviewed more than 30 proposals before selecting the design unveiled Wednesday. 
The airport renovation is part of the Trump administration&#8217;s effort to restore and modernize prominent public spaces in Washington. 
“As the capital city of the greatest Nation in the history of the world, it should showcase beautiful, clean, and safe public spaces,” Trump has said.

Screenshot 2026-07-29 at 7.56.19 PM

Trump Targets ‘One Of The Worst Airports Anywhere In The World’ For $22.5B Overhaul

Air and Space

airport

Executive

United Airlines

Virginia

I had just left dinner with friends in northwest Washington, D.C., last Friday. After we said goodbye, I started walking alone through Le Droit Park toward the nearest metro station. Within minutes, the sirens started. 
Several police cars appeared almost immediately — and almost as quickly, the street was filled as black teenagers flooded in from several directions at once. Some walked, others sprinted, and teens carrying blaring speakers took over the street. Hundreds of teens packed the roadway.
I asked a few of the kids running past what was happening. They yelled obscenities at me and kept going. Soon I realized that I had found myself in the middle of a &#8220;Teen Takeover,&#8221; the social media trend that that goes viral for the wrong reason every few weeks. It&#8217;s this generation&#8217;s version of a flash mob, and this version almost always ends in violence. Just earlier this year, a &#8220;Teen Takeover&#8221; in D.C. took over the internet with footage of numerous teens trashing a Chipotle, throwing metal chairs across the restaurant. 
 I moved to the edge of one of the groups and walked with them. An 18-year-old girl named Mekala told me the event was coordinated by &#8220;DPR.&#8221; I asked what the letters stood for and she didn&#8217;t know, only that &#8220;DPR&#8221; puts these events together for teens to “come out and have fun.” She said the organizers reach the kids through Instagram.
It turns out DPR is the District of Columbia’s Department of Parks and Recreation. The teens I spoke to that night said they were there for the government-organized event.
Its <a href="https://www.instagram.com/dcdpr">Instagram</a> account identifies it as a government organization that organizes &#8220;fun programs and events.&#8221; One of those events, according to the department’s <a href="https://dpr.dc.gov/page/late-night-hype">website</a>, is called Late Night Hype. It&#8217;s a program it created in 2021 to give teens and young adults “safe, high-energy spaces to connect after hours.” The government office had planned a Late Night Hype event at the Banneker Rec Center Fields just north of Le Droit Park, according to its <a href="https://latenighthype.splashthat.com/">online schedule of events</a>.
Attendees knew what was coming. A young Muslim man in a keffiyeh named Janar joined us as we walked. I asked him what the kids usually do at these DPR events. He answered without softening it: “All these n*gg*s out here are wildin&#8217;.&#8221; He described how the teens rob each other and take each other’s shoes and clothes. Mekala said that at most of these events the teens “go overboard” and take it to “the next level.” When I asked what that looked like, Janar said, “You gonna see.”
We moved through alleys, dodging police cars and leaving spots fast because fights kept starting. Mekala said DPR calls these “late night hype” events for teens and families to hang out and have good fun. The signs, she said, are made on the spot to get “experience with graffiti.&#8221;
As both Mekala and Janar warned, fights broke out. I moved closer to one of the fights to record it. As I approached to get footage, everyone was running the other way. Seconds later, I <a href="https://x.com/leonasalinas19/status/2080857020689764366?s=20">witnessed</a> a masked teenager fire off a gunshot. I stopped for a second. The masked ones ran and the rest of the crowd continued faster with them. 
I had gotten Mekala&#8217;s phone number and was able to reconnect. 
“This is why we can’t have fun because they want to act a fool,&#8221; she told me. Mekala told me the area was under a youth curfew. No one cared. She said these kids “target other people.” Then she said something more direct. She has watched, on multiple occasions at these same events, kids shooting at each other or jumping kids. She said it was commonplace.
I asked several teenagers in ski masks why they covered their faces. One said, “I can’t say too much.” Another said, “They gonna lock us up.” 
A witness near me claimed the police had “shot people,” which almost certainly didn&#8217;t happen. What happened was pepper balls after the gunfire and after more fights started inside the running crowd. The teenagers stampeded in short bursts with no clear provocation, even with National Guard standing in view, and they kept doing it.
I asked an officer for comment. She said she could not give details but confirmed an investigation into the discharge of a weapon was open and that numerous shots had been fired. I told her I had a video of one of the shots. She told me to submit it through their information page so I could be listed as a witness. At that moment, they had no other footage of the shots. While I spoke, other officers dealt with teenagers yelling obscenities at them and stretched caution tape to protect the crime scene.
I gave authorities my statement and left. On the way out, I watched officers arrest the person I had seen fire the first shot. No further official information has been released. 
What the Department of Parks and Recreation frames under the guise of an opportunity for teenagers to gather and have fun instead fosters a place for teens to commit crimes. They all knew what was going to happen. 
This was not an isolated night. As Heather Mac Donald has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-260524">written</a> in The Daily Wire, the same trend is popping up from Chicago to Florida, and repeated outbreaks inside Washington itself. Large groups of urban teenagers, often coordinated online, take over public space and the mass violence follows with enough regularity that participants treat it as expected.
According to the teenagers who attend these events regularly, the violence happens at nearly every single one. I wonder what they would say to the children who have been murdered by others at these takeovers, whose behavior they condone. 
There are Late Night Hype events planned for the next three Fridays this summer. The Department of Parks and Recreation did not respond to a request for comment.

D.C. Teen Takeover

I Went To A ‘Teen Takeover.’ It Ended With Gunshots, And Was Put On By The Government.

Teen-Takeover

Teenagers

Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary says the newly released diaries of Dr. Anthony Fauci echo doubts he formed about Fauci&#8217;s motives years before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Makary said in a resurfaced 2024 interview he &#8220;first became suspicious of Dr. Fauci and his motives&#8221; during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, when Fauci insisted on transferring a recovering nurse from Dallas to the National Institutes of Health, arguing the move was motivated by publicity rather than medical necessity. Makary said the transfer needlessly exposed others.
According to Makary, the patient was already receiving appropriate care under standard respiratory precautions, leaving no medical reason for the transfer, which he attributed to a publicity opportunity.
&#8220;There&#8217;s a room for respiratory precautions at every major medical center,&#8221; he explained. &#8220;It&#8217;s not like the respiratory precaution room at the NIH hospital is better than the respiratory precautions room at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.&#8221;
&#8220;And there&#8217;s nothing really to do, just supportive care,&#8221; Makary said. &#8220;They&#8217;re just watching her, so they&#8217;re doing basically nothing. They&#8217;re just letting her recover. And Fauci insists that they fly her up to the Clinical Center in Washington, D.C., from Dallas.&#8221;
As seen in the resurfaced clip from 2014, Fauci proudly announced the move of the Ebola patient during a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C., adding, &#8220;I&#8217;m sure you&#8217;ll hear about it soon in the press.&#8221;
&#8220;She will be coming to the National Institutes of Health, where we&#8217;ll be supplying her with state-of-the-art care in our high-level containment facilities, exposing countless people in the transport to Ebola,&#8221; Makary said, mocking Fauci&#8217;s actions. &#8220;Then Fauci puts on an astronaut suit along with a photographer and goes into this room where she&#8217;s recovering and they get a photo-op.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1031153" style="width: 907px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1031153" class="wp-image-1031153 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2252602175.jpg" alt="Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary listens as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on December 18, 2025 in Washington, DC" width="897" height="572" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2252602175.jpg 897w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2252602175-300x191.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2252602175-768x490.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 897px) 100vw, 897px" />Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images</div>
Makary said that one of the photos went viral and the NIH subsequently held a press conference with Dr. Fauci. Makary said Fauci boasted about how all this care would be totally free of charge and that they never bill patients. Makary said one reporter memorably noted that the NIH is funded by taxpayers.
&#8220;One person, a reporter in the audience, astutely says, &#8216;Wait a minute, when you say it&#8217;s free, isn&#8217;t it funded by billions of taxpayer dollars?'&#8221; Makary recalled. &#8220;And you know, that kind of threw a monkey wrench into their argument.&#8221;
&#8220;All I can say is there is no clinical indication, there is no medical justification for transport here,&#8221; Makary added.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Really fascinating commentary on Anthony Fauci here from former FDA head Marty Makary. Well worth watching in light of today’s revelations. 
<a href="https://t.co/A44nPoInM4">pic.twitter.com/A44nPoInM4</a>
— Megan Basham (@megbasham) <a href="https://x.com/megbasham/status/2081863831223955645?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 27, 2026</a></blockquote>
As highlighted by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-fauci-diaries-reveal-celebrity-obsession-at-height-of-covid-crisis?utm_content=email_blast_creative00278_na&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=newsletter&amp;utm_source=iterable">The Daily Wire</a>, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul (R-KY) released a trove of previously private Fauci diaries this week ahead of Fauci’s expected testimony this Wednesday. The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/faucis-personal-diary-highlights-shocking-contradiction-on-covid-fatality-rate">diaries</a> appear to show that Fauci privately discussed COVID-19 fatality estimates that differed from his public statements to Congress, while also documenting what critics have described as a man obsessed with media attention and his growing celebrity.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-fauci-diaries-reveal-celebrity-obsession-at-height-of-covid-crisis">New Fauci Diaries Reveal Celebrity Obsession At Height Of COVID Crisis</a>

House Hearing On Oversight Of Trump Administration’s Response To Covid-19 Pandemic

SEE IT: The 2014 Moment That Exposed Dr. Fauci

Anthony Fauci

COVID-19

Dallas

Dr. Fauci

Ebola

Fauci

fauci diaries

Marty Makary

Rand Paul

Texas

Washington DC

WASHINGTON — The rescheduled White House Correspondents Dinner will take place Friday evening in Washington, D.C., months after an assassin tried to barge into the event and target the president and top conservatives.
Friday&#8217;s White House Correspondents Dinner will take place at the Waldorf Astoria, formerly Trump Hotel, in downtown D.C. — &#8220;a Building and Ballroom that I built,&#8221; as the president said in a Truth Social post earlier this summer.
&#8220;I was asked to be there, and speak, by Weijia Jiang, President of The White House Correspondents’ Association, and have accepted,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;I don’t know whether or not I will give the same rather nasty statements, at least as it concerns certain people, but we will soon find out.&#8221;
Friday night&#8217;s event, including Trump&#8217;s speech, will be streamed live on The Daily Wire.
The previous dinner was held at the Washington Hilton, where, on April 25, a shooter named Cole Tomas Allen attempted to charge into the event and open fire on multiple top Trump administration officials, according to federal prosecutors.
Karoline Leavitt promised from the briefing room podium on Thursday that Trump &#8220;looks forward to finishing what he started&#8221; before the assassination attempt, encouraging Americans to &#8220;tune in, for what promises to be a very entertaining and memorable evening.&#8221;
“The president’s speech will be a combination of unifying yet vicious, and serious yet hilarious, all at the same time, if you can imagine that,&#8221; Leavitt added on Friday. &#8220;One thing I can assure you, it will be entertaining.”
&nbsp;
<div id="attachment_1143005" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-promises-unifying-yet-vicious-trump-speech-at-rescheduled-whcd/mentalist-oz-pearlman-hosts-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner-3" rel="attachment wp-att-1143005"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1143005" class="wp-image-1143005 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2273150972-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2273150972-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2273150972-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2273150972-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2273150972.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Karoline Leavitt, Melania Trump, Donald Trump, and Weijia Jiang attend The White House Correspondents Dinner at Washington Hilton on April 25, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for OP)</div>
The Secret Service told The Daily Wire on Friday that it is committed to ensuring the safety and security of the dinner, sharing that &#8220;Secret Service personnel have been in collaboration with the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA), hotel security, and law enforcement partners at the federal and local level.&#8221;
Guests should expect to see a &#8220;visible police presence around the Waldorf Astoria hotel,&#8221; Anthony Guglielmi, U.S. Secret Service chief of communications, shared on Friday, noting that there will be enhanced traffic closures due to the location of the event.
All guests of the dinner will have to go through &#8220;airport-style magnetometer screening,&#8221; and the roads around the Waldorf will be closed on Friday.
&#8220;We are confident that our robust security plan will ensure the safety of our protectees and attendees, just as our plan did in April,&#8221; Guglielmi said. &#8220;Our agency grows and adapts from every event we secure, and we have engaged with WHCA to ensure attendees are given timely information in the unlikely event on an emergency during the event.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1142985" style="width: 972px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-promises-unifying-yet-vicious-trump-speech-at-rescheduled-whcd/gunshots-fired-in-lobby-of-hotel-hosting-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner-with-president-trump-2" rel="attachment wp-att-1142985"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1142985" class="wp-image-1142985 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2273134809-962x576.jpg" alt="" width="962" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2273134809-962x576.jpg 962w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2273134809-300x180.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2273134809-768x460.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2273134809.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 962px) 100vw, 962px" /></a>This image shows Cole Tomas Allen, the suspect in the shooting incident in Washington at the annual White House Correspondents&#8217; Association Dinner, while in his hotel room at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC, on April 25, 2026. (Photo by U.S. Department of Justice/Getty Images)</div>
Weijia Jiang, the outgoing president of the White House Correspondents Association, said Friday night&#8217;s dinner will not only be an opportunity to actually hold the dinner, but it will also be &#8220;a statement that violence has no place in American life and a free press will not be intimidated into silence.&#8221;
&#8220;As you have all demonstrated, courage and community can and should rise above,&#8221; Jiang told the White House press in an emailed statement.
Authorities indicted accused assassin Allen on four charges: attempting to assassinate the president, assault on an officer of the United States with a deadly weapon, transporting a firearm, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
He is the fourth known person to attempt to assassinate Trump in the past two years. Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at Trump during his Butler, Pennsylvania rally in July 2024, Ryan Wesley Routh attempted to shoot Trump on September 15, 2024, and Austin Tucker Martin was shot and killed by authorities as he attempted to breach Mar-a-Lago in February 2026. Crooks was also killed by authorities, and Routh is serving a life sentence in prison.

President Trump Attends The White House Correspondents’ Dinner

White House Promises ‘Unifying Yet Vicious’ Trump Speech At Rescheduled WHCD

assassination

Media

Secret Service

WHCD

WASHINGTON— A group of Republican lawmakers are urging acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to bring long-awaited clarity to the gruesome deaths of five premie-sized babies recovered from a Washington, D.C., abortion clinic in 2022.
Utah Senator Mike Lee and Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey, along with more than 50 other lawmakers, are calling on Blanche to &#8220;comprehensively investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths of five preborn children&#8221; whose remains &#8220;were recovered by the Metropolitan Police Department in 2022, after they were allegedly aborted in the Washington Surgi-Clinic operated by the late-term abortionist Dr. Cesare Santangelo.&#8221;
&#8220;For four years, members of Congress have remained alarmed at this clear violation of life and law, but the Biden Administration Department of Justice refused to act,&#8221; the lawmakers write in a letter exclusively obtained by The Daily Wire, noting that their remains are in the possession of the D.C. Medical Examiner and calling on Blanche to find out if the babies &#8220;were victims of the crimes of infanticide or partial-birth abortion.&#8221;
Blanche, who has been acting attorney general since April, is in the midst of a confirmation battle on Capitol Hill. Blanche faced the Senate Judiciary Committee last week in a two-day hearing where Republican and Democrat lawmakers alike questioned him about the Trump administration&#8217;s handling of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ag-nominee-todd-blanche-shuts-down-trump-epstein-claims">Jeffrey Epstein case</a>, among other issues.
Lee and three other signatories of Tuesday&#8217;s letter — Senators Chuck Grassley, Ted Cruz, and Josh Hawley — all serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Blanche will need their votes to get to a full floor vote, and then for confirmation. As the committee prepares to vote, the signatories are calling Blanche to conduct a &#8220;thorough investigation into the death of each child, including autopsies of the infants and the preservation of all collected evidence.&#8221;
That is not all, however: they also want the babies to be properly buried.
&#8220;We cannot undo the grievous, barbaric acts that killed these children in their most vulnerable stage, but we equally cannot allow such lawlessness and inhumanity to evade our justice system any longer,&#8221; the letter reads. &#8220;Under President Trump’s and your leadership, we are hopeful that these children will finally receive the justice they deserve.&#8221;
A Justice Department official told The Daily Wire on Tuesday afternoon that the DOJ has gathered and reviewed documents related to the DC Five and is in the process of finalizing that process and turning things over to Congress. Should Congress identify any crimes in the DOJ&#8217;s trove of documents, the DOJ will &#8220;certainly investigate those matters,&#8221; the official shared.
“The Department of Justice is aware of the Senators’ request and takes these matters seriously,&#8221; DOJ spokeswoman Kiersten Pels shared. &#8220;As with all allegations of potential criminal conduct, the Department will review the information carefully and will investigate any credible allegations of criminal actions. The Department remains committed to following the facts and the law wherever they lead.”
Pro-life activists Lauren Handy and Terrisa Bukovinac originally discovered the baby bodies in boxes outside a Foggy Bottom abortion clinic in 2022 shortly before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The Daily Wire has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-went-to-the-clinic-of-the-dc-abortionist-accused-of-gruesome-crimes-heres-what-i-saw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">extensively reported</a> on Washington&#8217;s lack of interest in how these fully formed babies died.
Advocates and Republican lawmakers have sounded the alarm for years about these babies, warning that they appear to have been brutally and illegally aborted in violation of federal law, but the Biden administration took no steps to properly investigate the matter, instead targeting the women who recovered the bodies.
Doctors estimated to The Daily Wire in 2022 that several of the babies were the victims of late-term abortions — and that at least one baby may have been aborted using illegal partial-birth abortion methods, showing “deep lacerations to the posterior neck which presumably correlates to the method of abortion used to end her life.”
&#8220;If this baby girl was alive when the abortionist made these lacerations, then her death directly violated the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 (18 U.S. Code § 1531), which criminalizes the partial deliverance of a living child for the purpose of performing an overt act that intentionally takes the life of the child,&#8221; they wrote.
The lawmakers also point to the estimations of pro-life doctors, noting that one baby boy was estimated to be around 28 to 32 weeks, while another baby looked “like he should have been in the nursery” and was “about the same size as [her] granddaughter when she was born.”
Lee and Smith called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to conduct an investigation into the babies in 2022, as The Daily Wire first reported at the time, but the Justice Department never investigated or responded.
&#8220;On the contrary, after two years of inaction, reports indicated that the Department of Justice advised the Chief Medical Examiner to discard the bodies of the infants,&#8221; Lee and Smith write in their letter. &#8220;Fortunately, members of Congress were able to intervene with the Chief Medical Examiner and urge him to preserve the bodies.&#8221;
As recently as April, Republican Reps. Chip Roy (TX) and Andy Biggs (AZ) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-fbi-must-investigate-biden-coverup-of-aborted-babies-found-in-dc-lawmakers-say">pushed FBI Director Kash Patel</a> to investigate the babies and their deaths.
Editor’s Note: This piece was updated with additional comment from the Department of Justice.

Screenshot 2026-07-20 at 5.05.43 PM

EXCLUSIVE: Republican Senators Make Big Demand Of Todd Blanche Ahead Of Confirmation Vote

Abortion

Todd Blanche

I started my first Saturday in my new hometown in rural Tennessee on a mission to explore it and take in all of the small-town charm. But first – coffee. What I came to find was that the town had no Starbucks, no Target, no long list of well-known restaurants. It would be a 40-minute round-trip drive just to get my iced shaken espresso. And that’s when it hit: I have officially left my comfortable Washington, D.C. orbit. 
But you know what? That’s fine; I need to stiffen my weak citified spine.
What wasn’t fine was what I found out next. My new town had just been rocked by a massive local government corruption scandal. The mayor and two others were <a href="https://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local-news/mayor-others-indicted-after-investigation-finds-450k-in-misused-funds/article_f50d09fa-61dc-4572-bde1-3c37a5d03d6b.html">indicted on theft of funds</a>, with the investigation claiming a whopping $450k was misused. The officials deny guilt, but the <a href="https://www.wpsdlocal6.com/newsletter_stories/martin-mayor-shares-next-steps-for-city-amid-funding-crisis/article_f0877e2c-de60-4bd0-89b2-7ab13cceb96f.html">town reports a severe financial crisis</a>. For a town this size, the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars can be a death knell.
For decades, this small town has run on manufacturing and farming. One of those hollowed-out regions, this area was dealt a massive gut punch by Chinese tire imports and the 2009 Obama tariffs. And now, soybean farmers are affected by the <a href="https://www.wkrn.com/news/tennessee-politics/pew-study-tn-among-most-tariff-vulnerable/">Trump tariffs</a>. Suffice it to say, it’s no stranger to economic volatility, whether at the local or federal level.
And as a result, the city announced this year that the town’s annual Soybean Festival would be canceled <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TNSoybeanFestival/posts/pfbid036zd15smzzeEvHCRPwD2ou2xLqKavk9ZLSsYAz1DAtj1yd6UY6sbuCYMZ4qPtiaPil">due to the financial crisis</a>.
In the Washington, D.C. world I’ve observed, if a budget is blown in Congress, that’s usually a challenge to bloat it even more. But in small-town America, residents live within the confines of their town budgets. It has a direct impact. And for this town, that means foregoing the four-decade-long bright spot that unites families and the whole community, the Soybean Festival. For urbanites, it may sound trivial, but small town fairs are massive cultural and economic drivers, and this one is no different. It’s not only a morale booster, but something folks plan for all year long. And that’s why when the announcement came down, the community said, “Enough.”
In a plot twist that can only be found in films like &#8220;It’s a Wonderful Life,&#8221; one local man has rallied a groundswell of community support to <a href="https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/local/2026/06/05/tennessee-soybean-festival-return-2026-cancelation/90404057007/">bring the Festival back to life</a>. Not by demanding they spend money they don’t have, but by organizing different people from all over the town and organizing organic fundraising. It may have started with one resident willing to make the first phone call, but it only worked because dozens of others answered it. Their grassroots festival will be a fraction of the grandeur of festivals before, but locals don’t care. As one person <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Martinscoffeeandbakery/posts/pfbid0MtwbzhKmkKEqPoGNr9XrR7Mxp12C7KYk4S57WhWRgDayU5eXx3o6xRxPq5q6Ao4yl">posted</a>, “You do not even know how much it means to me and my family that y’all are trying keep Soybean alive. Now I can possibly bring my children to enjoy the same atmosphere.” 
It struck me, I’ve been lamenting and making a list in my mind of how disconnected I am to all of the civic activity in the District, yet here I am confronted with democracy in action, and I’m missing it. As they say here in Tennessee, when something is right in front of your face: “if it was a snake — it would’ve bit me.”
For those of us who work in and around D.C., it’s easy to think that important American affairs are captured in that one region…but are they? As we speak, Congress is in a stalemate over 2027 funding, struggling to agree on topline spending totals. In fact, they haven’t passed an on-time bipartisan funding agreement in <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/3877">seven years</a>.
I’m sitting in a coffee shop in the middle of this tiny downtown, watching citizens come together, organize, and save their town. These people aren’t all best friends; I see them verbally duke it out on Facebook a lot. But they are all pausing whatever disagreements they have to come together for the common good. They don’t all make the Congressional salary of $174k, but they are pooling whatever money they can to create a functional budget for this modest grassroots fair.
Watching my new town rally around the Soybean Festival reminded me why &#8220;It&#8217;s a Wonderful Life&#8221; is such a heartwarming story. We remember George Bailey as the hero, but the film&#8217;s real lesson isn&#8217;t about one extraordinary man. It&#8217;s about an ordinary town. Bedford Falls survives because its people decide it is worth saving.
That&#8217;s exactly what I&#8217;m watching unfold in rural Tennessee.
I hope Washington remembers what my new hometown refuses to forget, that self-government is about more than the next election and political wins. It requires living within limits, setting aside personal grievances, and accepting responsibility for something larger than ourselves.
And I’ve certainly learned firsthand that the true American strength and grit of this country never rested solely inside the Capitol. It has always depended on ordinary Americans who refuse to let their communities fall apart.
***
Emily Osment Davis is a writer and communicator with a background in non-profits and politics and a not-so-secret love of celebrity gossip. She covers the space where Hollywood meets D.C. — because sometimes the two aren’t so different. You may have read her work in Newsweek, USA Today, Fox News, and more.

Fleetwood Blues Festival

I Left Washington And Found The America Missing From D.C.

DW Opinion

Rural America

Small Towns

President Donald Trump touted the record-breaking fireworks display prepared for Saturday&#8217;s festivities celebrating America&#8217;s 250th birthday on the National Mall.
&#8220;Best fireworks show, EVER! President DJT,&#8221; he posted via his Truth Social platform after the last of the munitions had been spent.
The 40-minute display included more than 850,000 individual fireworks, breaking the Guiness World Record for the largest fireworks display on record. American military service members provided the soundtrack for the massive spectacle, singing hits like Chicago&#8217;s &#8220;25 or 6 to 4,&#8221; Journey&#8217;s &#8220;Don&#8217;t Stop Believin&#8217;,&#8221; Bon Jovi&#8217;s &#8220;Livin&#8217; on a Prayer,&#8221; the Village People&#8217;s &#8220;Y.M.C.A.,&#8221;  Toby Keith&#8217;s &#8220;Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American),&#8221; and Neil Diamond&#8217;s &#8220;Sweet Caroline.&#8221;
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The largest firework show in U.S. history for America’s 250th birthday!!! 🇺🇸 <a href="https://t.co/Id0oyS8uLN">pic.twitter.com/Id0oyS8uLN</a>
— Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) <a href="https://x.com/MargoMartin47/status/2073629242013737274?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2026</a></blockquote>
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🚨 BOOM! THE SPIRIT OF AMERICA IS ALIVE AND WELL!
Washington DC and President Trump just BROKE THE RECORD for most fireworks EVER, and cities nationwide launched their own celebrations on America 250
After weather evacuations, patriots BROKE OUT into Star Spangled Banner before… <a href="https://t.co/MnqtfylDG4">pic.twitter.com/MnqtfylDG4</a>
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) <a href="https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/2073747253252993264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2026</a></blockquote>
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The 250 fireworks finale! <a href="https://t.co/qbgkLDhHFr">pic.twitter.com/qbgkLDhHFr</a>
— Beverly Hallberg (@BeverlyHallberg) <a href="https://x.com/BeverlyHallberg/status/2073630024586932306?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2026</a></blockquote>
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The entire National Mall fireworks show in about a minute, seen from the webcam at the top of the Washington Monument starting with the B1 Lancer flyover. <a href="https://t.co/BY0AlLawBl">pic.twitter.com/BY0AlLawBl</a>
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) <a href="https://x.com/aletweetsnews/status/2073632498760749119?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2026</a></blockquote>
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World War II veterans who were honored during President Trump&#8217;s remarks watched the incredible display from their memorial.
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They left home as boys 8 decades ago to go out and save the world. Last night they sat at the WWII Memorial together and celebrated their country&#8217;s 250th. Still heroic. <a href="https://t.co/RXnOmtMVj7">pic.twitter.com/RXnOmtMVj7</a>
— Jerry Thornton (@jerrythornton) <a href="https://x.com/jerrythornton/status/2073740039574474823?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Throughout the evening, the fireworks and other program events competed with uncooperative weather, as a large thunderstorm blew through the nation&#8217;s capital and even forced a delay in the president&#8217;s remarks.
Lightning lit up the sky behind the Washington Monument as the crowd joined in singing &#8220;Sweet Caroline.&#8221;
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HOLY SH*T:
I just caught the moment lighting strikes near the Washington Monument as &#8220;Sweet Caroline&#8221; plays during the Freedom 250 fireworks in Washington D.C.
God bless America. 🇺🇸 <a href="https://t.co/5Q92TgBGST">pic.twitter.com/5Q92TgBGST</a>
— Evan Kilgore 🇺🇸 (@EvanAKilgore) <a href="https://x.com/EvanAKilgore/status/2073628449533468718?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Lightning photobombs DC&#8217;s fireworks show.
Remarkable images shared with us by Russell Moy. <a href="https://t.co/fJhYtuYDfk">pic.twitter.com/fJhYtuYDfk</a>
— Capital Weather (@capitalweather) <a href="https://x.com/capitalweather/status/2073765107562135955?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Watch: Dramatic lightning strike during DC&#8217;s fireworks Saturday night.
While lightning appears to strike Washington Monument, the bolt actually is behind it.
Video by <a href="https://x.com/AlyssaNegvesky?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AlyssaNegvesky</a> <a href="https://t.co/oTVxARQ4oK">pic.twitter.com/oTVxARQ4oK</a>
— Capital Weather (@capitalweather) <a href="https://x.com/capitalweather/status/2073746243860246790?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Photo of the night contender from angela n. Stunning shot!!
More lightning + fireworks photos compiled on the site or at the Capital Weather app. <a href="https://t.co/bgPFCIQxOH">pic.twitter.com/bgPFCIQxOH</a>
— Capital Weather (@capitalweather) <a href="https://x.com/capitalweather/status/2073780201260003355?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Despite the weather, well over 100,000 spectators gathered on the National Mall to witness the display — and cities all across the United States joined in with their own celebrations.

Local Weather U.S.

Trump Raves About Record-Setting Fireworks Display For America 250

Fireworks

Fourth of July

A heat dome affecting much of the United States has turned the nation&#8217;s capital into one of the hottest places on earth as Americans gather to celebrate the Semiquincentennial.
On Friday, only the Sahara Desert, China&#8217;s Gobi Desert, parts of the Middle East, and parts of America&#8217;s Desert Southwest will reach higher temperatures than America&#8217;s capital, Washington Post meteorologist Ben Noll <a href="https://x.com/bennollweather/status/2072681704456638543?s=46">reported</a>. Temperatures in D.C. are expected to reach 102 degrees, with the heat index potentially hitting a blistering 110.
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D.C. will be hotter than 99 percent of the planet on Friday.
Only parts of Africa&#8217;s Sahara Desert, the Middle East, China&#8217;s Gobi Desert and a few spots in the Desert Southwest will be hotter. <a href="https://t.co/GGedfFhpr4">pic.twitter.com/GGedfFhpr4</a>
— Ben Noll (@BenNollWeather) <a href="https://x.com/BenNollWeather/status/2072681704456638543?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2026</a></blockquote>
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The Great American State Fair on the National Mall temporarily closed Friday afternoon due to the extreme heat. The fair is expected to reopen at 5:00 p.m. ET.
&#8220;The safety and well-being of our guests, volunteers, performers, vendors, and staff is our highest priority,&#8221; Freedom 250 said. &#8220;Conditions are expected to improve later this afternoon, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back at 5:00 p.m. as preparations continue for this evening’s festivities.&#8221;
The major heat has also resulted in some parade cancellations on the East Coast on Friday, including the massive Philadelphia Salute to Independence Semiquincentennial Parade. Parade organizers in Philadelphia said they made the decision to call off Friday&#8217;s parade for the safety of participants and would-be parade watchers, CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/philadelphia-4th-of-july-parade-canceled-heat/">reported</a>.
The historic town of Leesburg, Virginia, also <a href="https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/live-updates-extreme-heat-temps-over-100-in-dc-area-disrupt-july-4-celebrations/4125412/?cardId=1:14:4125495">canceled</a> its parade planned for Saturday and moved its concert and fireworks show back one hour.
The heat wave will continue in D.C. on Saturday during the Fourth of July celebrations, with temperatures expected to reach 99 degrees and the heat index rising to 113. A potential afternoon thunderstorm could also throw a wrench in the celebrations, according to AccuWeather.
&#8220;Dangerous heat [and] storms that can bring damaging winds and downpours may disrupt outdoor holiday plans,&#8221; AccuWeather noted.
The heat wave is not stopping President Donald Trump&#8217;s massive celebrations, however, as numerous events on the National Mall scheduled for Friday and Saturday are still moving forward. Americans who brave the high temps get to take in hours of military flyovers for Trump’s “Salute to America 250” celebration, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hundreds-of-military-aircraft-to-roar-over-d-c-for-trumps-fourth-of-july?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Drew+Berkemeyer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Hundreds+Of+Military+Aircraft+To+Roar+Over+D.C.+For+Trump%E2%80%99s+Fourth+Of+July">reported</a>. The flyovers feature historic and modern aircraft from every branch of the military.
The &#8220;Salute to America&#8221; live programming will begin on the Washington Monument grounds at 7:00 p.m. ET, and President Trump will deliver his address at 9:45 p.m. before the &#8220;World&#8217;s Largest Fireworks Display.&#8221;
D.C.&#8217;s annual &#8220;A Capitol Fourth&#8221; concert is also moving forward on Friday night, but entry into the event will be delayed until 7:00 p.m., just one hour before the start time.

Heat Dome Settles Over US Bringing Hot And Humid Conditions To Millions Of Americans

Only Four Places On Earth Are Hotter Than D.C. As Temps Soar During America 250 Celebrations

America 250

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