Days before the guests actually arrived at the private event at the Parc du Cinquantenaire in Brussels on Sunday (28 June), the celebration of the United States’ 250th anniversary of independence had already become a political event.
Temperatures climbed above 30°C but residents found themselves shut out of one of the capital’s largest green spaces. Security barriers surrounded much of the park. And behind the fencing, diplomats, politicians, military officials and business executives gathered for what organisers described as the largest US Independence Day party outside America.
The event took place amid transatlantic tension over aggressive US trade tariffs, Washington’s pressure on Europe to decouple from China and a trust deficit across the European continent towards America as an ally – a situation further strained by the bizarre style of diplomacy coming from Bill White, the US ambassador to Belgium.
The celebration was extraordinary in scale. Preparations began months in advance, with White noting in his inauguration speech that planning had taken nearly five months.
And the result? The US embassy used Cinquantenaire Park to showcase American diplomacy through concerts, military displays, and corporate partnerships, such as Google’s under the motto “Freedom 250”.
