Anxious at 250

This year’s Fourth of July fireworks show on the National Mall is the first such event to be designated a “National Special Security Event,” which requires the kind of screening procedures and police presence usually reserved for presidential inaugurations and Super Bowls. It’s a reflection of the logistical complexity and anticipated crowd size of America’s 250th birthday party, but also, unfortunately, its potential appeal to attackers at a time of rising threats.President Trump has promoted the event as “THE LARGEST FIREWORKS SHOW IN HISTORY,” and the NSSE designation puts the Secret Service in charge of planning and protecting it. On a day when temperatures are forecast to be in or near the triple digits, getting in may be more like going through an airport than going to a party. That’s not least because the president has placed himself at the center of the festivities and has plans to give “a really long speech just to show that I can do anything.”Security and intelligence agencies routinely monitor for specific threats against high-profile events, but Secret Service, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security officials told us they are not tracking any specific, credible threats targeting the July 4 event. You’d be forgiven for thinking otherwise while walking around downtown Washington, D.C., in recent days. The normally wide-open expanse at the city’s heart has been ringed with security fences for weeks, ahead of World Cup–viewing parties, the Great American State Fair, and the 250th event on July 4. “I’ve lived here most of my life, and I’ve never seen it look like this on the Mall,” Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters on Monday.As is customary, federal agencies do not comment on the number of security personnel they plan to deploy, but the Trump administration has already mobilized thousands of National Guard troops in Washington. Tara McLeese, the special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Washington field office, told reporters this week that in additi