Trump's surreal late attempt to become unity president rang hollow on a divided Washington mall

Ronald Reagan, hunched at a Camp David desk and wearing a well-worn white Lacoste polo shirt, spoke into two microphones to address the nation’s radio listeners.

It was July 4, 1987 – Independence Day 32 years ago – but on a day of national unity his message was nakedly political.

He pushed an economic 'bill of rights' – a Reaganomic dream in which the federal government would be forced to balance every budget, and a new rule that tax increases could only be implemented via supermajorities in congress.

He then trumpeted Robert Bork – his ultimately doomed Supreme Court nominee who’d spoken of his desire to roll back some civil rights decisions and was already sullied by his actions while working for Richard Nixon.

Presidential posturing on the Fourth of July it seems isn’t quite the terrifying dystopian development that Donald Trump’s critics painted it to be.

With the US at war in Korea, Harry Truman co-opted the iconic Washington Monument to mark the 175th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

And, in 2000, Bill Clinton spoke from the deck of the USS John F Kennedy, in front of the Statue of Liberty.

The deep fear heading into Thursday’s ‘Salute to America’ event, however, was that Mr Trump would go further – using a tank-decorate bully pulpit to hack at his political opponents.

But the comically low bar that’s often set for Mr Trump was comfortably cleared. He didn’t call for Hillary Clinton to be locked up, he didn’t make-up any false smears about a 2020 rival, and he didn’t swipe at his Oval Office predecessor.

There was no joking around about his absolute power over the military, or the gloating over the weakness of geopolitical rivals.

It is, perhaps, the closest Mr Trump will get to looking presidential.

But his attempt at unity betrayed what his mere public presence led to on the streets of Washington DC.

An hour before the traditional lunchtime parade, one Maga-merchandise vendor sat by an near-empty stand: “My brother’s driving another 10 boxes here. The caps are flying.”

More people had their political affiliations on display than ever before, many attendees told us, and it was all Trump. Tensions in the crowd were palpable.

At one point, a family had a minor disagreement with a man who appeared to be Mexican. The patriarch, wearing a Maga t-shirt and aggrieved at a perceived invasion of personal space, remonstrated.

The man replied: “I don’t care.”

The dad hit back, looking him up and down: “Yeah, you people don’t."

When a battalion of police officers passed by as part of the parade, a group of white guys in their early 20s and clad in the iconic bright-red Trump garb whooped and hollered: “We love the police!”

A black man standing nearby deadpanned: “Yup, we just love the police.”

There are two Americas, and studies show some people feel the sides are more deeply divided than ever before.

Putting them together only increased the contrast.

Many of those holding anti-Trump signs looked and sounded defeated – nurses, teachers, students, with scrawled signs on A4 paper. The need to do something, anything, to protest a president who has broken so many norms.

On the other, brash t-shirt slogans: Are you tired of all the winning? Hillary for Jail 2020, and others.

There was at least one fluttering ‘Q Anon’ flag - a reference to a bizarre far-right conspiracy theory detailing a supposed secret plot by an alleged ‘deep state’ against the president and his supporters.

And the presence of ‘Proud Boys’ marching confidently through the crowd also caught the eye.

What was the reason for Mr Trump’s toned down demeanour?

Aides once suggested that the happiest they’ve ever seen him was after the Bastille Day parade in Paris in 2017. Perhaps the sight of the nation’s military might left this often angry man temporarily contented.

Or, and this is a long shot, perhaps he’ll rein in his baser instincts as the 2020 election draws near. The less motivated their opponents are, the better, he could confidently reason.

But the horse appears to have already bolted. The dark stormy clouds that doused DC on Thursday were reminiscent of the mood on both sides of the political aisle.