President Donald Trump appeared unable to remember the words to “God Bless America” at his Celebration of America event, which he had staged after accusing American athletes of being unpatriotic.
The president sang along to the first several words of the classic American tune on Tuesday, as the US Marine Band and US Army Chorus performed it behind him on the White House lawn. When the performers reached the words "to the oceans white with foam,” however, Mr Trump stopped singing, simply nodding his head along to the beat.
The event was originally scheduled to be a celebration of the Philadelphia Eagles, who won this year’s NFL Super Bowl. The White House uninvited the team, however, after several members said they would not be attending.
Mr Trump later claimed the Eagles players had dropped out of the event because of his own opposition to “taking a knee” – a popular form of protest in the NFL that involves kneeling during the national anthem.
“[The Eagles] disagree with their President because he insists that they proudly stand for the National Anthem, hand on heart, in honour of the great men and women of our military and the people of our country,” Mr Trump said in a statement. “The Eagles wanted to send a smaller delegation, but the 1,000 fans planning to attend the event deserve better.”
Instead, Mr Trump announced, the White House would host an event to “honour our great country, pay tribute to the heroes who fight to protect it, and loudly and proudly play the National Anthem”.
The president spoke for approximately four minutes at the event, according to pool reports, claiming the day’s turnout was “even bigger than we had anticipated”.
“We love our country. We respect our flag. We always proudly stand for the National Anthem,” he said, before joining the military bands in their rendition of “God Bless America”.
