保卫美国250周年庆典：执法部门面临计划调整与世界杯安保双重压力

Securing America’s 250: Law enforcement faces shifting plans and World Cup demands

2026-07-02T10:00:28.635Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/02/politics/america-250-security-july-4

The day after the White House kicked off celebrations for America’s 250th birthday with a UFC fight on the South Lawn, FBI Director Kash Patel announced that law enforcement had thwarted a plot to attack the event using drones and snipers to target Trump and others.

Now, two weeks later, federal and local law enforcement are tasked with securing a complex July Fourth holiday in the nation’s capital, details for which are still being ironed out, with logistical headaches spreading across agencies, multiple officials told CNN.

Three days before the holiday, planners sent out a schedule of the events, including planned fly-overs every hour starting in the afternoon, and an evening of programs that start in the late afternoon and end in a speech from Trump and a fireworks show. The timing for both has been shifted around in recent days.

Earlier this week, the lack of a clear schedule for the DC celebration caused headaches for some of the officials managing Trump’s security as they tried to nail down details to form a comprehensive plan.

Without a firm plan for when each event will be held, details about how to deploy security were briefly in limbo, but the infrastructure allows for flexibility in last-minute changes, sources said.

Even the timing of Trump’s speech was up in the air earlier this week when planners reversed course after DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said Monday that the large firework show wouldn’t start until 11 p.m. on July Fourth.

Trump’s speech has since been moved to earlier in the evening, and with it the fireworks show.

Despite looming concerns of yet another attempt on Trump’s life, as well as the ever-present lone wolf threat, Washington, DC, is well positioned to secure these sorts of large-scale events, several officials involved in the planning told CNN.

Federal agencies will also be helping protect several other July Fourth celebrations across the US, including in Boston, California, Pennsylvania and New York.

Patel reiterated Wednesday that there was no credible threat against any of the nation’s July Fourth events, including in DC.

“Events of national and historical significance could be appealing targets for a range of threat actors, due to both the large crowds they draw and their symbolic importance,” a federal law enforcement bulletin shared with police agencies around the US said in the week ahead of the national holiday.

The bulletin also warned that “ideologically and non-ideologically motivated individuals could conduct violent attacks or seek to instill fear as a way of highlighting the vulnerabilities in a country’s security systems.”

“DC is kind of a unique animal when it comes to” large-scale security, one federal law enforcement involved in the security planning for July Fourth told CNN. “Everybody here already knows how to do these. From the State of Union address, inaugurations” and presidential funerals, “these are regular events that happen here.”

“They’re the most secure events,” a federal official briefed on the planning told CNN. “They’re designed that way. The highest level that you can get.”

That security was recently tested when a man armed with a shotgun was able to plot what prosecutors say was an assassination attempt on Trump during the recent White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The man was able to rush through Secret Service security, shooting one officer before being detained, prosecutors say.

They say the man had stayed in the same hotel as the event and spent time casing out the best routes to the ballroom where the dinner was held.

The Secret Service, which is leading and managing the July Fourth event, along with the FBI, Metropolitan Police, and other federal and local police, will be juggling security for Trump’s airshow, and the continued “Great American State Fair” set up on the National Mall — all culminating in a 45-minute, $850,000 fireworks show.

Federal law enforcement agencies have already been stretched thin this month, providing everything from physical and digital security to anti-drone systems, bomb squads and other resources across cities hosting this year’s World Cup.

Two federal officials briefed on the matter told CNN those deployments have also delayed federal responses to instances around the US, including bomb threats and other emergency calls.

In one recent instance, some federal bomb technicians were unable to respond to a suspicious package outside an ICE office because they had been deployed to the World Cup. While it took longer than usual to deploy, one official told CNN, the package was ultimately determined not to be dangerous.

While the number of World Cup matches will drop drastically this week as the tournament continues and countries are eliminated, assets will still be deployed across the states as federal agencies protect foreign dignitaries coming to the matches, the matches themselves, and America’s birthday celebrations.

In several instances over the last few years, Trump has come close to a gun held by a man who wants to kill him. Most recently, Secret Service officers stumbled to stop a man — carrying a loaded shotgun — from rushing the press dinner Trump attended earlier this year.

Trump’s security was notably heightened during a speech he gave in the first days of the capital’s 250 celebration, with bulletproof glass protecting the president; tents positioned as visual barriers to nearby rooftops and vantage points; and a shorter distance between the motorcade and stage.

Those same protective measures are expected to surround the president on July Fourth, one law enforcement official involved in the planning told CNN, adding that it would include “even more security” than last week’s speech from the president.

Washington, DC, has the most restricted airspace for any city in the US. Because it houses agencies with the most anti-drone technology — including the Department of Homeland Security, FBI and Secret Service — it is perhaps the best prepared city for any potential drone incursions, two law enforcement officials told CNN.

“Something could still happen,” one of the federal officials involved in security planning told CNN. “But I think of all places to have that happen, DC is probably better — as well prepared as any place else, if not more so.”

While the threat of drones, easily purchased and capable of carrying deadly payloads, continues to grow in the US, the country has yet to see a large-scale drone attack.

In the White House UFC fight case, the group’s ability to execute any plan appeared to have been heavily limited, according to court records in the cases.

The extent of the group’s alleged planning was limited, and while several did have firearms, indictments say, it’s unclear if any drones or explosives were procured. Eight people have been arrested in the investigation.

In one indictment, the defendant told officers he didn’t know how to build drones despite telling members of the group he could. One member and alleged leader of the group gave the defendant a 3-D printer to build drones, but the defendant claimed he just wanted a friend and free 3-D printer, the indictment says.

Federal and local agencies will have drones and anti-drone technology deployed during the holiday, including jamming technology for more basic, hobby drones that rely on radio frequencies to control.

But experts have warned CNN drones can be purchased for as little as $500 that use a different system which, with current technology, can’t be jammed. For those drones, federal agencies have different methods — including deploying nets, using drones of their own, and firing projectiles.

Even detecting certain drones can be a challenge, those experts told CNN, and certain agencies have begun deploying a wide array of drone-spotting technology, including systems that listen for the audio and pitch of a drone’s buzzing blades.

DC, however, is a closely watched airspace and, given the airshow and security measures, will be heavily monitored by multiple agencies.