Trump heads for Mount Rushmore as US turns 250

President Donald Trump kicks off America's 250th birthday weekend on Friday with a trip to a landmark upon which many suspect he would like to see his own face carved in rock -- Mount Rushmore.

On the eve of Independence Day, Trump will give a speech beneath the giant granite heads of four of his legendary predecessors at the national monument in South Dakota.

It's a fitting image for a president who views himself as being one of the greats himself, and who has at every stage tried to turn the United States' big anniversary into a celebration of himself.

Republican Trump's supporters have even introduced legislation to have his likeness chiseled beside those of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.

On July Fourth itself, Trump will hold a  campaign-style political rally on the National Mall in Washington, along with flyovers by military jets and what he has billed as the world's biggest fireworks display.

For Trump -- the billionaire former reality TV star who became the consummate political showman -- taking center stage is in his blood.

"Trump likes the spotlight, and I think he's trying to take the spotlight," Peter Loge, director of George Washington University's School of Media, told AFP.

But America under Trump is deeply divided at what should be a time of national unity.

Trump's approval ratings are near historic lows, fueled largely by the war in Iran and the cost of living. His Democratic opponents have castigated him over his immigration policies, family wealth and attempts to extend presidential power.

In an appearance posted Friday on second lady Usha Vance's podcast, Trump alluded to the sense of national division when he was asked why children should go out and celebrate Saturday's anniversary.

"We have a great country. We have a country that is under a little bit of a ledge right now," he said. "It can go one way or another, you understand that, but we're going to go the other."

Trump's attempts to stamp his political brand on America's 250th anniversary have, meanwhile, not always gone to plan.

A Trump-linked organization called Freedom 250 has taken control of many of the festivities from the bipartisan America250 group, leading many people to stay away from key events.

A "Great American State Fair" in the capital designed as a celebration of the country's birthday has drawn sparse crowds and widespread mockery for its empty booths.

A record-breaking heat wave also kept many visitors away, while those who braved sizzling temperatures Friday morning had to squeeze themselves into small slivers of shade outside pavilions.

"On July 4 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 said Wednesday.

The July Fourth events come after Trump hosted a widely criticized Ultimate Fighting Championship cage fight on the White House lawn during which one fighter shouted the false claim that former first lady Michelle Obama "is a man."

As the United States marks two-and-a-half centuries of triumphs and tragedies, slavery and freedom, civil war and world wars, surveys show the nation is pessimistic about the chances of realizing the "American Dream."

A Quinnipiac University Poll on Thursday showed 61 percent of Americans thought the US was not living up to the ideals stated in the Declaration of Independence -- though even opinion on that was divided, with most Republicans thinking it did, and most Democrats thinking it didn't.

"The Fourth of July really is a moment of freedom, but I have to be honest, in these political times, it hasn't been as exciting to me over the last few years," Amy Kimaara, a 49-year-old special education teacher wearing a Team USA jersey, told AFP in Los Angeles.

Increasingly, Trump is using the 250th anniversary celebrations as a platform to rally political support for Republicans -- and himself -- ahead of crucial US midterm elections in November.

Republicans fear Trump's unpopularity could cost them control of Congress, which could leave Trump facing a record third impeachment.

"I think it's been politicized, but that doesn't change that the Fourth of July is a great holiday for all of us," said Matt Jarvis, 55, an entrepreneur from Los Angeles.