Washington, D.C
America’s toxic political climate faces calls to ‘tone it down’ after assassination attempt on Trump
WASHINGTON (AP) — “Tone it down!”
That was the plea from one Republican congressman as he came to grips with the assassination attempt against Donald Trump at a political rally in the Butler Farm area where he grew up.
“I am in a state of bewilderment of how and what has happened to the United States of America,” Rep. Mike Kelly, R-PA., told The Associated Press early Sunday.
The shocking attempt on Trump’s life has brought into stark relief the toxic climate in America’s political life. While the details of the shooter’s motive remain unclear, the violence is a further gauge of how what was once unacceptable, if not unthinkable, in American society has become painfully commonplace.
As the 2024 election enters a crucial phase ahead of the national conventions, how the nation responds will test the first presidential contest since 2020, an election that became defined by efforts to overturn Trump’s defeat and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
On Sunday, civic leaders, pastors and elected officials from President Joe Biden on down appealed to Americans for unity, urging an end to vitriol.
“We can’t allow this violence to be normalized,” Biden said in an evening address to the nation from the Oval Office.
Under a charged atmosphere, the Republican National Convention opens this week in Milwaukee to renominate Trump to lead the ticket, while Democrats prepare for their own convention next month uncertain if the party will stick with the incumbent Biden in an expected rematch.
Trump’s rhetoric, though tempered in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, had taken on deeper and darker tones in this, his third campaign for the White House.
This spring, Trump who has accused migrants of “poisoning the blood of the country” and vowed to launch the largest domestic deportation operation, told autoworkers there would be a “ bloodbath ” in this country if he is not reelected.
“If we don’t win, I think our country is finished,” he said during the New Hampshire primary.
Trump has promised retribution on his political rivals, particularly those in the Justice Department after he was indicted on federal charges of storing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home and in the conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump also made make light of violence. When Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, was attacked by an intruder looking for the former House speaker at the family’s San Francisco home in 2022 — beaten over the head with a hammer — Trump mocked the security fencing she had installed as insufficient.
Trump drew chuckles in a speech before California Republicans last year when he asked, “How’s her husband doing, by the way?”
Biden, in turn, has warned that Trump’s return to power poses a grave threat to the country’s civic traditions. He chose a location near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, for his initial 2024 campaign event, portraying the likely rematch as “all about” whether democracy can survive.
Addressing the nation Sunday, Biden pointed to past examples of political upheaval, including Jan. 6 and more recently harassment of election workers, and said, “There’s no place in America for this kind of violence, for any violence, ever.”
Still, one of Trump’s potential vice-presidential picks, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, said on social media over the weekend that Biden’s earlier rhetoric against Trump “led directly” to the attempted assassination.
And House Speaker Mike Johnson, who said it’s time to “turn the temperature down in this country,” also singled out for blame Biden’s recent comments during a call with political donors in which the president said, “It’s time to put Trump in the bullseye.”
Johnson said he knows Biden didn’t literally mean Trump should be targeted, but added, “that kind of language on either side should be called out.”
Nick Beauchamp, an associate professor of political science at Boston’s Northeastern University, said there is an opportunity now for political leaders to “start framing their critiques of the others in words that explicitly denounce violence.”
From the the 1968 killings of American leaders Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. to the 1981 attack on President Ronald Reagan, to shootings of Republicans and Democrats in the past decade, the violent strain has always been part of American politics.
Other violent incidents have intersected more recently with the nation’s political struggles in frightful ways.
Outside Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s suburban home, a man with a knife and gun who threated to kill the justice was arrested in 2022. Members of Congress have experienced increased security threats. And harassment against elections officials from cities and states across the nation has led to a wave of departures because of threats on their livelihoods.
Last summer, FBI agents fatally shot a Utah man who had threatened to assassinate Biden and had referred to himself as a “MAGA Trumper.” That followed a series of drive-by shootings earlier in the year targeting Democrats in New Mexico, a startling outburst that led to criminal charges against a failed state legislative candidate who had parroted Trump’s rigged-election rhetoric.
A gunman who died in a shootout in 2022 after trying to get inside the FBI’s Cincinnati office apparently went on social media and called for federal agents to be killed “on sight” following the search at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
Jacob Ware, a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who focuses on domestic terrorism, said, “The warning lights have been blinking red regarding violence in this election cycle for months, if not years now.”
As Trump took the stage Saturday evening, he had opened the rally in Pennsylvania as he often does, marveling at the “big beautiful crowd” gathered to see him — and demeaning Biden’s own crowds as paltry in comparison.
The former president had just started his speech, launching into his mass deportation agenda and complaints of a nation in decline.
“Our country is going to hell,” Trump said.
Minutes later, shots rang out.
Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania, who was sitting with other Republican officials behind Trump, called it all just a terrible tragedy. “The level of lack of civility and hostility, maybe this will send a ringing signal to all those to cool it,” he told the AP.
As Americans took stock Sunday, the common message was a call for unity.
The Rev. Chris Morgan, senior pastor of Christ United Methodist Church in Bethel Park, which is a few streets away from where the shooter lived, urged his congregation during a morning service to pray for the country.
“Clearly there’s a lot going on and a lot that is causing people to have great anxiety and great struggle,” he said. “I want to encourage you to be praying for those that have been involved that they too can find what it means to show kindness to others.”
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Associated Press writers Ali Swenson, Brian Slodysko and Holly Meyer contributed to this report.
Washington, D.C
What’s that noise? What you need to know about D.C. flyovers Friday and Saturday – WTOP News
Reagan National Airport will close for America 250 flyover rehearsals Friday and celebrations Saturday featuring the Thunderbirds, Blue Angels and more.
Reagan National Airport will close from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday for rehearsals ahead of this weekend’s America 250 celebrations, meaning people around D.C., Arlington and Alexandria may hear and see low-flying military aircraft.
According to Freedom 250 event organizers, Friday’s “Wings of Freedom” demonstrations over the National Mall will feature parachute teams, helicopters and military aircraft, including the U.S. Marine Corps’ MV-22 Osprey and F-35B, the Navy’s F-18F and F-35C, the Air Force’s F-22 Raptor, the Thunderbirds and a tri-bomber formation.
On Saturday, the FAA will close the airport from noon to midnight for the full celebration. All arrivals and departures at Reagan National are scheduled to end before noon.
Flyovers and demonstrations are scheduled throughout the afternoon and evening along the National Mall and Washington Monument grounds, including appearances by Air Force One, the Thunderbirds, Blue Angels, military aircraft fleet reviews, parachute demonstrations and B-2 stealth bombers.
Highlights include an Air Force One flyover scheduled for 7:03 p.m., a Thunderbirds demonstration beginning at 6:25 p.m., a tri-bomber formation at 6:02 p.m. and a stealth aircraft flyover at 7:38 p.m.
Friday’s schedule of flyovers and demonstration rehearsals along the National Mall and Washington Monument
- 10 a.m.: Golden Knights, Leap Frogs
- 10:15 a.m.: Army Helo Flyover
- 10:20 a.m.: USMC V-22 Osprey Demo
- 10:35 a.m.: USMC F-35B STOVL Demo
- 10:50 a.m.: USN F-18F Demo
- 11:10 a.m.: USN F-35C Demo Team
- 11:30 a.m.: USAF F-22 Raptor Demo
- 11:50 a.m.: NASA F-5s
- 12 p.m.: HUGE (1) Formation
- 12:05 p.m.: USAF Thunderbirds
- 12:55 p.m.: USAF Tri-Bomber
Saturday’s schedule of flyovers and demonstration along the National Mall and Washington Monument
- 1:14 p.m.: – NASA F-5 Flyover
- 1:24 p.m.: -NASA Fleet Review
- 1:44 p.m.: USCG Helo Flyover
- 1:54 p.m.: USCG Fixed Wing Flyover
- 2:09 p.m.: Golden Knights, Leap Frogs
- 2:29 p.m.: Army Helo Flyover
- 2:44 p.m.: USAF Fleet Review – Wave 1 – Heavies
- 2:54 p.m.: USAF Fleet Review – Wave 2 – AFSOC
- 3:04 p.m.: USAF Fleet Review – Wave 3 – Fighters
- 3:29 p.m.: Executive Rotary Wing Airlift
- 3:39 p.m.: USMC Fleet Review – Wave 1 – Rotary
- 3:49 p.m.: USMC Fleet Review – Wave 2 – Fixed Wing
- 3:59 p.m.: USN Fleet Review – Wave 1 – Rotary
- 4:09 p.m.: USN Fleet Review – Wave 2 – Fixed Wing
- 4:19 p.m.: USN Fleet Review – Wave 3 – Fighters
- 4:21 p.m.: USN F-18F Demonstration
- 4:59 p.m.: USN Blue Angels
- 5:26 p.m.: USMC MV-22 Osprey Demonstration
- 5:44 p.m.: USAF Fleet Review – Fighters
- 6:02 p.m.: USAF Tri-Bomber Formation
- 6:05 p.m.: USN F-35C Demonstration
- 6:25 p.m.: USAF Thunderbirds Demonstration
- 7:03 p.m.: Air Force One Flyover
- 7:07 p.m.: USAF Thunderbirds Delta Break
- 7:17 p.m.: HUGE 1 Flyover Led by the Newly Renovated Air Force One
- 7:38 p.m.: U.S. Stealth Airpower Flyover
- 7:39 p.m.: F-22 Raptor Demo
- 7:53 p.m.: F-22 Raptor in Afterburner
- 7:59 p.m.: B-1 Flyover
- 8:07 p.m.: B-1’s in Afterburner
- 8:11 p.m.: HUGE ONE Fly Over Review
- 8:22 p.m.: Golden Knights Twilight Jump
- 10:36 p.m.: B-1 Afterburner Night Pass
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An Air Force major was arrested in uniform on the steps of the Capitol after he called for the impeachment of President Donald Trump.
U.S. Capitol Police arrested Jason Watson, an active-duty service member, on Wednesday afternoon following remarks at a news conference where he said Trump and Vice President JD Vance should be removed from office.
The event was organized by the Removal Coalition, a group that lobbies members of Congress to impeach Trump, and attended by Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, who has repeatedly introduced articles of impeachment against Trump.
“I’m here with him because Rep. Green is the only member of Congress that has demonstrated the courage and conviction to … force a vote on articles of impeachment,” Watson said at the event. “If Congress followed his example, we could remove the entire Trump administration, but Congress remains unconvinced of the urgency and necessity for them to honor their oaths, so we must persuade them with our unrelenting, uncompromising civil resistance.”
Watson said he is not a Democrat and does not share policy positions with Green, who lost his re-election bid this year. Green’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Watson’s arrest.
Capitol Police said in a statement that it “is generally against the law for the public to demonstrate on the House Steps unless they are with a Member of Congress.”
“Yesterday afternoon, a man was escorted to the House Steps by a Member of Congress,” the statement said. “When the Member of Congress left the area, our officers gave the man lawful orders to stop the illegal demonstration or he would be arrested. The man refused our lawful orders.”
Capitol Police identified the man as Watson, adding that he was arrested on charges of “Crowding, Obstructing, and Incommoding” and that it is legal to protest in other spots on the Capitol grounds.
Service members are subject to stricter laws than the average citizen when it comes to protesting. The Uniform Code of Military Justice prohibits officers from “using contemptuous language towards the President, Vice president, the Secretaries of War and of a military department, Congress, and certain other officials,” according to an Air Force memo last year.
An Air Force spokesperson said in a statement Thursday: “Service members must comply with all laws, regulations and policies governing conduct and the wear of the uniform. All Department of the Air Force personnel are expected to uphold the highest standards of discipline and professionalism, both on and off duty.”
All service members, not just members of the Air Force, are prohibited from participating in “political activities” in uniform.
Watson’s criticism of Trump and Vance focused on the administration’s actions in Venezuela and Iran, calling them “an unconstitutional usurpation of Congress’ authority and a violation of the War Powers Clause.”
“These violations resulted in the deaths of 13 service members and injuries of hundreds more,” he said, referring to the number of U.S. military deaths tied to the Iran war. “For this, the president and vice president must be impeached, convicted and removed.”
Watson also called the administration’s immigration policies and tactics unconstitutional.
The Removal Coalition did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Watson could not be reached.
President Donald Trump responded to criticism of a financial disclosure that listed $1.4 billion in crypto earnings largely driven by meme coins.
Berk Kutay Gökmen
02 July 2026•Update: 02 July 2026
US Defense Secretary Hegseth on Thursday faced protesters while hosting the Trump administration’s DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force ceremony in Washington DC.
During the ceremony at Meridian Hill Park, which saw the gathering of National Guardsmen, dozens of demonstrators gathered near the park to protest Hegseth.
Footage shows the demonstrators chanting a short distance away from where Hegseth and roughly 200 members of the National Guard had gathered in the park
In social media posts, one protester was seen holding a Palestinian flag, while another person was holding a sign that reads “arrest Hegseth.” The protesters want a “Free DC,” according to social media posts.
In his address to the National Guard, Hegseth said that “this background noise is perfect,” referring to the protests.
“It’s the sound of ingrates, of ingratitude—of people who are so blinded by ideology they can’t see law and order and common sense in front of them,” he said.
Meridian Hill Park was repaired by the National Park Service and the Interior Department as part of a larger initiative to restore and enhance federal parks and public spaces throughout the nation’s capital in preparation for America’s 250th anniversary, which falls on this Saturday, July 4.
Though such beautification projects are typically popular with the public, the current initiative has been controversial both for its choice of projects and the use of no-bid contracts to hire firms to do the work, sometimes with disappointing results.
The work aligns with President Donald Trump’s DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force, established by a March 2025 executive order that directs federal agencies to coordinate public safety and beautification efforts across Washington.
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