President Donald Trump declared his hatred for his political opponents during a supposedly bipartisan celebration of the 250th anniversary of America’s independence.

Taking to the lectern behind thick bulletproof glass in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday, Trump immediately started firing off political potshots. “They wouldn’t vote only because they hate Trump, but I hate them, too, you know?” Trump said, referring to Democrats who voted against his “Big Beautiful Bill,” which the House sent to the president’s desk after a tight vote.

“I really do. I hate them. I cannot stand them, because I really believe they hate our country.”

His tone was strange given that the event, on the eve of July 4, was organized as a non-political celebration. Trump’s liaison to the organizing group, America250, said that it was designed to bring Americans together.

In an interview before the festivities at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, Chief of Protocol Monica Crowley said the anniversary events are “something that I think that all Americans can come together to celebrate and honor our history as well as our present and our future.”

However, she had her own partisan bent when introducing the president on stage. “I don’t know what more people expect or want from an American president,” Crowley said. “He is literally fulfilling the entire job description, and so much more.”

As the event devolved into the Trump show, the president also rambled about weaponizing Democratic dissent towards his bill in the midterms next year.

“With all of the things we did with the tax cuts and rebuilding our military, not one Democrat voted for us, and I think we use it in the campaign that’s coming up the midterms, because we got to beat them,” he said.

He also made the event about the fact that he was able to pass his bill just hours before.

“There could be no better birthday present for America than the phenomenal victory we achieved just hours ago, when Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill to make America great again,” he told the crowd.

“We’ve saved our country,” he boasted as his favorite MAGA singer, Lee Greenwood, pumped out his campaign anthem “God Bless the U.S.A.”

“We got great marks in the first term, and this is going to blow it away,” Trump said at one point, ignoring a recent AP-NORC poll showed that six in 10 Americans disapprove of Trump’s performance as president and other surveys showing him with negative approval ratings.

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