Today’s Independence Day celebrations may be tamped down by severe heat and, according to a NPR/PBS News/Marist poll, worry about the future.
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
The founders complained about the summer heat in Philadelphia, but it was pleasant there on this day in 1776. Thomas Jefferson recorded 76 degrees at 1 p.m. before he, perhaps joined by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, took the Declaration of Independence to be printed and distributed. It’s a fair bit hotter there today, of course, as a wave of high pressure traps much of the country under a heat dome. NPR’s Ron Elving joins us. Ron, thanks for being with us.
RON ELVING, BYLINE: Good to be with you, Scott, and happy Fourth of July.
SIMON: And happy Fourth to you, my friend. The heat’s causing many of today’s celebrations to be scaled back for safety’s sake. Will America’s 250th birthday be tamer – not as multipartisan than the 1976 bicentennial, which we remember?
ELVING: The day is young. It’s still too early to judge whether this heat dome will hold down the crowd sizes or shorten tempers or just put a damper on it all, but to some degree, that might be a good fit for the mood of this holiday, which seems subdued compared to earlier eras. Polls show Americans are less optimistic and somewhat less patriotic than in past years. One measure now shows Americans slightly less patriotic on average than citizens of other countries. And that’s quite a departure from the past, and it’s certainly more downbeat today than 50 years ago.
In 1976, when the nightmares of Vietnam and Watergate scandals were finally over and their memories were beginning to recede, the country was ready to move on, ready to believe its best days were still ahead. And yes, Americans were in a mood to party that summer in big cities like New York and small-town parades all over the country.
SIMON: Supreme Court wrapped up its most recent session this week and released some of their most significant decisions, didn’t they?
ELVING: Oh, my. It was quite a package, and it had gut-punches for partisans on both sides. Democrats were distressed that the court continued to dismantle restraints on campaign spending, especially those that allow big contributors to coordinate spending with candidates. But it was especially striking to see the shock and dismay on the right over the court’s decision upholding birthright citizenship.
Now, this has been around back to English common law before the American Revolution. It’s been confirmed by the high court more than once. And most legal observers expected it to be upheld once again. So many were surprised the vote was so close, and that close vote surely lends momentum to the Trump administration’s efforts to minimize and even villainize immigration.
SIMON: Mandatory financial disclosure this week revealed that President Trump made more than a billion dollars in his first year back in the White House, considerably more than the year before. Is it only responsible to ask if he has enriched himself in office?
ELVING: Donald Trump was rich long before he was president. But there was always a lot of debate about just how rich. And that debate is now over. Not all presidents have added wealth while in office, but in recent decades, with book deals and speaking fees, it’s become easier than ever for a president to cash in, but never on a scale remotely comparable to this and not with such an array of transactions that would seem to pose a conflict of interest for anyone in the Oval Office.
SIMON: And former Trump allies – Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene – say they want to create a new political party. Are we witnessing in 2026 the two-party system splintering, as more Republicans question President Trump, MAGA Republicans take on centrists and recent primary victories have produced more democratic socialist candidates in the Democratic Party?
ELVING: In a word, yes. Both sides are finding it increasingly difficult to enforce party unity, difficult even to appeal to party spirit or plead for party cohesion. The parties can’t control the actions and statements of prominent politicians who want to stand out, who want to be where the voters seem to be, and they know what gets attention. They know what builds a following, especially in the wide-open cyberspaces of social media.
SIMON: NPR senior contributor Ron Elving. Ron, thanks so very much for being with us. Good holiday to you.
ELVING: And to you, Scott. Thank you.
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