India, July 4 -- Standing beneath the monolithic granite visages of four of his most storied predecessors, US President Donald Trump on Friday night launched the United States' landmark 250th anniversary weekend, delivering a sweeping address that sought to weld the weight of American history to his own political vision for the nation's future.

The address, delivered on the eve of Independence Day to a lottery-selected crowd of roughly 4,800 spectators, represented the opening salvo of a weekend-long, highly coordinated tribute to the American semiquincentennial.

Backed by military flyovers, precision drill teams, and a spectacular fireworks finale that illuminated the Black Hills for the first time in five years, the event was designed...