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Trump Vows "Really Long Speech" Tomorrow Despite Extreme D.C. Heat; CNN's "The Fourth In America: Celebrating 250" Begins Tomorrow At Noon ET; Trump Shrugs Off Concerns About Huge Family Profits While President; Gov. Moore To Deliver July 4 Speech On Patriotism; Poll: 14 Percent Of Democrats Say They're Extremely Proud To Be American. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired July 03, 2026 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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DANA BASH, CNN HOST, INSIDE POLITICS: America is gearing up for a star-spangled birthday.

I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines at Inside Politics.

From sea to shining sea, it's party time. On the eve of America's 250, celebrations are kicking off across the country. President Trump is about to leave the White House for a holiday event at Mount Rushmore, which is, of course, the monument, he's openly mused about one day seeing his face on. The only thing apparently set in stone right now is the president's planned July 4 speech, followed by fireworks. The White House insists the biggest show of all is right here in Washington tomorrow night, but the record-breaking heat wave is threatening to complicate the celebration.

I'm going to get straight to the White House and CNN's Alayna Treene is braving the heat. Alayna?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Dana. Look, the president is heading first today to Mount Rushmore to really kick off America's 250th birthday and a whole weekend of Independence Day events. And, of course, this is a symbolic return for the president. He actually first visited Mount Rushmore back in 2020, but this time could be a little bit different.

We're told that there's expected to be a flyover over that iconic mountain. You're going to hear -- you're going to see fireworks. You're going to hear the president give remarks. We haven't heard much about his speech, other than that he's really going to be touting this very historic seminal anniversary for the United States.

But we did hear this from one White House staffer, Dana, who posted a little bit about his speech on social media. She said that standing before the iconic monument, honoring four of America's most consequential leaders. He will deliver a major address making clear what the world already knows that the United States is the greatest, strongest, and most exceptional nation in history. Such a little bit of a preview, I think, of what you can expect to hear from him.

One thing, though, of course, that I'm watching for is whether the president, who has openly mused many times in the past about how it's his dream to have his face be added to Mount Rushmore, whether or not, he's going to bring that up again about this idea of, you know, let's go find a mountain. He actually joked about that in an interview with the former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, she was also formerly the governor of South Dakota. She once joked that she would find him a mountain in order to do that. So, I'll be looking for that.

And then, of course, a big event is going to be tomorrow, where the president is going to leave to give remarks on the National Mall for July 4 itself. We've actually seen a lot of what you can already expect tomorrow night. For those who will be on the National Mall, there's been a ton of different flyovers all over D.C. I'm sure you can hear it back in the bureau as well, Dana.

We also saw the U.S. Army Golden Knights and the U.S. Navy Leap Frogs doing some parachuting demonstrations, landing at the state fair on the Mall. So, a lot of pomp and circumstance for the celebration.

BASH: And we both have our party dresses on, Alayna. I love it. Thank you so much, appreciate it. I'm joined here by a terrific group of reporters who are all -- I don't know, I feel like, on the inside you're ready to party. But before we get to that, we do have some politics and some news to discuss.

Let's just start where, where Alayna left off. You cover the White House. You certainly understand what the president is hoping to do tomorrow. There have been some hurdles in his way, including sadly now the heatwave, which is going to be horrible, and it already is horrible.

TAMARA KEITH, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, NPR: It is. It is very hot. It is dangerously hot. The feels like temperatures are going to be well over 100 degrees, though. When he was in North Dakota the other day, he joked it's going to be 107 degrees, and I'm going to give an extralong speech on July 4, he said, just to prove that he can as we --

BASH: The flyover.

KEITH: Yes.

BASH: If you're hearing rumbling, it's not thunder, it's actually one of the flyovers here in D.C. Go ahead.

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KEITH: Yeah. And there are going to be day-long flyovers tomorrow in Washington, D.C. You know, I think that he, on some level does want a big bold American event, but in a lot of ways it has become a missed opportunity. It has become a Rorschach test of American politics, where everything he does is seen through a partisan lens, in part because he inserts himself into absolutely everything, including what are traditionally more nonpartisan space. BASH: Right. I mean, this is a perfect example. There was and is a congressionally mandated bipartisan America 250, and the president said, no, I want to have my own partisan event, which is Freedom 250. And there's a lot of -- sort of to-ing and froing about those things and there's a lot of questions about Freedom 250, and who the donors are and things of that sort.

Let's just talk for one second, though, about Mount Rushmore because it is the kind of thing that if any other president talked about it, it would be so clearly ingest and intended as humor. I don't think that's what this president is doing. He has posted just even last month, in June, artwork with him on Mount Rushmore, May, photoshop with the president next to Mount Rushmore, and in August of 2020, a photo of Trump next to Mount Rushmore.

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN REPORTER: I think a lot of this, the president has made it clear that he is concerned about the optics and what his legacy is going to be when he leaves office. I mean, we've seen this in some of the renovations he's done across the city. When you're talking about the reflecting pool that has just sparked a lot of debate on whether that was necessary, and even when he's joked in the past about having his name on it.

You even had some Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill, like Anna Paulina Luna, who put forth a bill to try to see that happen in reality, despite the fact that there is a lot of logistical challenges to making that happen. But the president very clearly, and a lot of things that he does, whether it's putting a lot of his effort and support behind all of these events that are unfolding this weekend, he does care about his legacy and what he's going to go forward.

And so, I do think in this speech that he's going to give in South Dakota that he might make some remarks or make some ingest about him having his face there, because that is in the back of his mind about the legacy he's going to leave and whether this actually is going to have momentum. Because we've seen in the past if he wants something done, he's going to put a lot of weight behind it to get it done.

BASH: Yeah. And you know, look, we've seen the state fair that was created a couple of weeks ago and is going to continue through later this month on the Mall that has not drawn the crowds that the president had hoped it would draw. The independent journalist Aaron Parnas shared on X some video of a stage that fell. Thank goodness everybody was OK.

But, you know, it's kind of a little bit of a metaphor alert here that things have gone up pretty quickly. They have gone up without -- perhaps the idea that people know who the companies are who are putting these things up, and it just kind of speak to what we are seeing in this 250 celebration here in Washington versus I think what a lot of people had hoped, which was to turn the partisan off even for a day a week or even more around this momentous birthday.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And our colleagues have reported on how there are a lot of anxieties within the White House about the optics and the way that these events are going to look and in turn portray the president. But this 250th anniversary is intended to be this moment of unity, a time for this country to celebrate the founding, and where we have gone since. But there are these tints of political and partisanship that we've seen play out that are really hanging over this and impacting a lot of people's opinions.

BASH: In a related but different subject I do want to get to something that President Trump said in an interview with CNBC yesterday, and it is about the one of the big, big stories this week, and that is the president's financial disclosure showing just how much money he and his family have made while in office. And here's what he said about his sons who are running the businesses.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, I feel badly in a way for my kids because every time my kids do, if they invest in a stock or they go and do a bill, anything they do, because the presidency is so powerful, so big, everything. If they buy a cupcake company, well, the energy to make the cupcakes is, you know, sort of like, how's my energy policy. So, therefore, you have a conflict. Almost anything they do, if they want to buy a truck, if they want to buy, you know, they buy an energy efficient truck, they have inside information.

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BASH: As our colleague Kevin Liptak said this morning, tongue firmly in cheek, they're not making cupcakes. There are some real business ventures that the Trump sons are going into that absolutely benefit them and they have to do with the U.S. and policy. Just one example is they stand to benefit from a U.S.-backed tungsten mining project in Kazakhstan. And I have to say somewhere somehow Hunter Biden is, I mean, rolling his eyes, maybe, you know, finding a punching bag to punch in frustration because, like, irony is dead.

KEITH: Irony is dead. Public service is supposed to be public service, it is. You're not supposed to get rich from the presidency. Maybe afterwards they go out and they give speeches, and that's -- they get a lot of money, and that's been controversial in the past. But now you're looking at a president and his family just vastly increasing their wealth while they're in office.

I have this project called Swing Shift, where I talk to swing voters. And I was asking them just basically how you're feeling about the state of the country right now. Many of these are people, they've all voted for President Trump. Multiple people talked about corruption, about being concerned about corruption in the government that the people are getting ahead, but regular folks aren't. And, you know, these are not like people who are watching the news all day, every day. This is seeping out into the way people think about politics, and it's sort of increasing the cynicism among voters.

BASH: That's really interesting. All right, we're going to sneak in a quick break. Up next, President Trump isn't the only politician making a July 4 speech. Democratic Maryland Governor Wes Moore will be here to talk about his address next. Plus, you can't have a birthday party without birthday cake. I'm going to speak to the baker chosen to make a cake fit for the 250th birthday of America.

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BASH: President Trump will be speaking before the D.C. fireworks tomorrow night, some 50 miles away in Annapolis, Maryland. Democratic Governor Wes Moore will deliver his own address from the state House, where he is going to say, in part, quote, the work of patriotism is neither passive nor performative. It is not selfish, it is selfless. And that is why nationalism is not an extension of patriotism. They are not interchangeable. There is a difference, and that difference matters. Patriotism asks you to fight for values and an ideal. Nationalism asks you to fight for a person or a group.

Governor Moore is here in the studio right now to talk more about this. Thanks for coming in.

GOV. WES MOORE (D-MD): My pleasure.

BASH: The 50 miles, I did Google it. Why this specific argument about nationalism versus patriotism?

MOORE: Because I think the president is uniquely missing the point and he's missing the mark. This really is a celebration of the greatest experiment in world history, where 250 years ago people banded together to try something that's never been tried before. And now 250 years later, you really have not seen it since something where we're going to fight for an ideal, we're going to fight for others.

The president is making this small when this celebration actually should be big. And so, I thought it was important for us to be able to help to tell a story that our nation's history has been deeply complicated, deeply uneven, deeply unfair for many people. However, there were patriots, there were willing people who were willing to put the flag of our country on their shoulder and to put the hope of their country -- this country in their hearts. And to say, I'm willing to fight for something better for tomorrow, and that's the message that I wanted to be able to share.

BASH: So, what you're saying right now sounds like a unifying message, and in the excerpt that we got from your office that I just read, it's more explanatory, but also there's partisanship in there. I mean, we know why you're doing that.

MOORE: Well, I wouldn't -- I wouldn't necessarily call it partisanship, right?

BASH: OK.

MOORE: Because I think when we're talking about nationalism, no, nationalism is, you know, you see it where it's about -- you showing fealty to a person or to a group, right? And what I'm saying is this country is patriotic, and I don't care if you are Democratic or Republican or you are indifferent about politics.

But what patriotism is, is that we're willing to fight for the hope of each other. We're willing to fight for the hope of what tomorrow can be. And so, actually, I don't think patriotism versus nationalism necessarily a political argument, but I do think it's something that patriotism is something that really helps to embody what makes this country so unique in the first place.

BASH: Yeah, that makes sense. I understand that you are a leading Democratic governor. You even have -- can you hear the flyover?

MOORE: Hear the flyover.

BASH: Just want to warn our viewers that -- that's what that is. You are a prominent Democrat, and you are a governor of all the people of Maryland. And so, I guess what I was getting at is, do you risk sort of being perceived as partisan on a day where most people in America are hoping to put that aside?

MOORE: Yeah. I actually don't think that for our message, our message is not partisan, our message is patriotic. And I do think there is a difference between America 250 and Freedom 250. I think America 250 is a patriotic exercise of the journey of this country, and why we want to celebrate this great experiment called America Freedom 250. And what we are seeing from the president of the United States, that really is -- that is nationalism.

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And that is an expression where he is making it about himself but tomorrow is not about him. Tomorrow is about all of us. And so, actually, I think what we're doing in the message that I'm sharing is to Democrats, Republicans, and to anyone else. Let's not forget how amazing this American journey has been, and let's not forget that if we can find ways of continuing to work together and understand the assignment of this moment that we do know that our better days are still ahead of us.

BASH: I think you were referring to America 250 is and was a bipartisan endeavor to celebrate this 250th year. When the president came in, he --

MOORE: He co-opted it.

BASH: He separated it out into a partisan Freedom 250. There is a Gallup poll that came out recently that found only 14 percent. 14 percent of Democrats say they are extremely proud to be an American. What do you think about that?

MOORE: I'm very proud of this country, and I'm very proud to be an American. That's not saying that -- and I'm saying it because I know the history of this country. I know it's unevenness. I know that tomorrow I will be giving an address as the first black governor in the history of the state of Maryland, from a state House that was partially built by the hands of enslaved people.

I know this nation's history has not been perfect, but I also believe that loving your country doesn't mean lying about its history. And I also believe that loving your country doesn't mean agreeing with everything that has happened in it, but truly loving this country and loving the ideals means, are you willing to be part of the solution that I want people to hold on to skepticism. I'm a governor and I'm skeptical, right, but skepticism is my companion, but it's not my captor. And that's all I'm hoping that people will understand.

BASH: There's skepticism and then there's pessimism. And if 14 percent of Democrats say that they're extremely proud to be an American, what does that tell you?

MOORE: Well, I think pessimism is something that can be controlled. You know, I think that when people are looking at what's happening right now, I understand why they're -- why they're frustrated. They're watching prices continue to skyrocket, inflation at the highest levels in three years. They see us fighting wars that nobody understands what we're doing and it's not being explained to us.

They are seeing how the president of the United States has just released that has now made billions of dollars in the process of -- in the process of a year and a half. While we are watching 31,000 Marylanders being fired who are federal workers. We're watching, you know, people losing their healthcare. So, people are frustrated, and I totally understand that.

I do, though, think though, when it comes to our frustration and our feelings about this country. The question is, do we think we have an ability to do something about it? And when I think about it, and I look at the work, for example, that's happening in Maryland, my answer is very clear. Well, we do have an ability to do something about it.

BASH: That's your answer. I do want to ask about the answer that a lot of voters in Democratic primaries from New York to Colorado have said and that is Democratic socialism. I know you came on with my colleague Jake Tapper after two Democratic socialists, one in New York. And you say that Democrats need to stop being the party of no and slow, and instead yes and now, but that was before there was another win in Colorado. And so, can you look at that and see a pattern, and if you do, what does that tell you as a Democratic leader about where the energy in your party is?

MOORE: I actually -- my answer still hasn't changed because I still look at what happened in Maryland, where we had our elections the same day that New York had it. And I had a whole slate of what we call leave no one behind slate of candidates who were wildly successful and who did not conform to a political ideology. They just simply wanted to disrupt the status quo. And they're just saying the status quo is not working for us, so let's elect candidates who are actually working to undo that.

BASH: I'm not asking you about 2028. This is generally speaking, because whoever it is, Democrats are really going to hope that they put a Democrat in the White House in 2028. Looking at where the energy is right now in the party, do you think that that person is going to end up being more like the Democrats elected in New York and in Colorado, or more like the Democrats that you talk about in Maryland?

MOORE: I think anyone who is looking and saying to people that everything is fine is going to have a very difficult time getting any type of attention. You know, we have got to be able to disrupt the status quo and show --

BASH: Disrupt that much?

MOORE: Well, I think to show, but show that you're able to -- actually able to get things done. You know, for example, I think about what we've done in Maryland, where we've been able to raise the minimum wage, give the middle class a tax cut, be able to have paid family and paid medical leave, and also still increase and still add over 55,000 new businesses within our state. We're basically saying, we're not choosing between this.

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I want to create pathways to work wages and wealth for not just some in our society, but all people in our society, and I'm willing to disrupt the status quo, in order to do that. That's what I think people are looking for, and that's what we're seeing inside of the state of Maryland. And frankly, I think that's the energy and the rallying cry that I think we're seeing around the country as well.

BASH: Governor Wes Moore, thanks for coming in.

MOORE: Thank you.

BASH: Happy fourth, happy birthday, America.

MOORE: Happy fourth. Yes.

BASH: Appreciate it. And up next, dangerous temperatures are already resulting in cancelations of major July 4 events, including one big one. And the question is, what about the forecast? And will the White House change any plans? We're going to go live to our meteorologist on the Mall after a break.

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