America 250 live updates: July Fourth festivities unfold; Trump to give speech at Mt. Rushmore

Follow live as America’s 250th anniversary events unfold on the July Fourth federal holiday, including fireworks and a Trump speech at Mt. Rushmore.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is delivering remarks in the morning about the occasion.

Donald Trump at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in Keystone, S.D., in 2020. Saul Loeb / AFP - Getty Images file

For more than a century, crowds have gathered in Times Square to watch the iconic New Years Eve ball drop. Now, the tradition is getting a patriotic twist.

For the first time, the crystal ball will shine in red, white and blue to commemorate the nation's 250th birthday, marking the start of America250 celebrations that will continue through the Fourth of July. Rather than dropping just once, the ball will descend multiple times to mark midnight across U.S. time zones and territories.

Crowds gathered Times Square this morning to witness the first of eight ceremonial ball drops, which marked the arrival of July 4 in Guam.