The largest Fourth of July celebration outside the US is going ahead this year without one of its key fixtures: the United States government. The annual party in Rebild in rural Denmark, a showcase of Danish-American ties for more than a century, has dropped US officials from the program after local politicians threatened to pull roughly $50,000 in public support if they appeared, the New York Times. The move follows President Trump's attempt to acquire Greenland, a Danish territory, which angered many Danes and sharpened questions about why taxpayers should bankroll a patriotic US holiday on Danish soil.
Organizers expect the smallest turnout on record—perhaps under 1,000, down from tens of thousands in the festival's post–World War II heyday—and say Trump's Greenland comments are scaring some people off. The festival was founded in 1912 by Danish American biochemist Max Henius, who donated the 200-acre parcel of land to the nation on the condition that a festival be held every Fourth of July to celebrate the friendship between the countries, the BBC reported in a 2019 look at the festival.
- Henius was the maternal great-grandfather of actor Keith Carradine, who was the festival's keynote speaker in 2012. Other American guests over the years have included Walt Disney in 1961, Richard Nixon in 1962, then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1972, and then-Attorney General Janet Reno in 1994.
The US Embassy in Copenhagen declined to comment, but the ambassador, a traditional presence at the event, will stay away. The hot dogs, anthems, and classic American cars will remain; the official American role will not.
- Retired Danish American businessman Bruce Bro, a board member of the Rebild National Park Society, the group that plans the festival, says he supports the decision. He tells the Times that he was "horrified" by Trump's Greenland threats and he has heard many people saying they won't attend this year. "It's very sad," he says. "We want to keep this tradition alive. And we blame Trump."
- Organizers say the event is about connecting people, not governments, and Americans attending as private citizens are as welcome as ever. "They're exactly the same fantastic people as they always have been, and I think that's sometimes we forget a little bit the people view when we have all these geopolitical things going on," says Jorgen Bech Madsen, president of the Rebild National Park Society. He says he hopes the festival "will have a lot of dialog and lot of talks, and then celebrating and having fun together," Alabama Public Radio reports.