Trump says 'America's destiny is written by God'

President Donald Trump has commemorated the 250th anniversary of US independence with fireworks and a speech that mixed partisan politics with patriotic appeals.

Also in today's programme: we'll be live in Iran where a public holiday is being observed to mark the funeral of the country's former supreme leader; and violinist Nigel Kennedy tells us why he hates the term 'classical music'.

Presenter Julian Worricker is joined by Timandra Harkness, a British writer, broadcaster and, in her own words, a lapsed comedian, and Jeremy Cliffe, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank in Berlin.

(Photo:The 250th Independence Day celebration on the National Mall, Arlington, USA - 05 Jul 2026. Credit: Matthew Kaminsky/ EPA)