Trump to lead US 250th Independence Day celebration in Mount Rushmore

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Friday travels to Mount Rushmore, the granite mountain in South Dakota where the heads of four American presidents are carved, as part of celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of the United States.

The trip is a prelude to the big event celebrating the anniversary on Saturday night in Washington, when Trump will address a crowd on the National Mall ahead of a massive fireworks show.

On Wednesday, he dedicated the presidential museum of Theodore Roosevelt in Medora, North Dakota, where he indulged comparisons to one of America's most dynamic leaders.

At Mount Rushmore, which Trump visited in 2020, he is to give a keynote address and watch a fireworks display, amid concerns about fire hazards given drought conditions in the area.

Trump in the past has mused openly about having his own profile carved on the mountain to join those of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. "Sounds like a good idea to me," he said in a tweet in 2020 during his first term.

But there has been no serious move toward fulfilling this dream in his second term. Instead, Trump has tried to cement his legacy through a series of high-profile projects to leave a lasting imprint on the nation's capital. These include building a new ballroom next to the White House, planning a monumental arch and renovating some of Washington's most iconic monuments and public spaces.

Trump is expected to be joined by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, a former governor of North Dakota. To get there Trump will make his second flight aboard the Qatari jumbo jet that was gifted to him for use as Air Force One for the rest of his time in office.

The 250th anniversary celebrations come at a time when Trump is grappling with high gas prices due to the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran and growing unease among Republican lawmakers who fear the conflict could cost the party control of at least one chamber in November's midterm elections.

(Reporting By Steve Holland, editing by Ross Colvin and Alistair Bell)