On July 4th, 2026, the United States will celebrate Independence Day, just as it does every year. But 250 years on from the country’s Declaration of Independence, the image of the United States has become tarnished. Yet today, the United States seems increasingly alien and ever more threatening to many Europeans. Is Donald Trump’s current policy the product of a national identity shaped by history? To understand the American mindset, one must look back to the roots and myths that have shaped it — a history marked by rifts and conflicts that continue to resonate today. By drawing parallels between cowboys and populism, Thanksgiving and Charlie Kirk, this 2-part documentary demonstrates that Trump’s politics differ from those of his predecessors and are not in line with the values upon which the history of the American nation was founded.
Tom Vogt
Heike Paul
Elisabeth Anker
Volker Depkat
Michael Hochgeschwender
Nikole Hannah-Jones
Jessica Gienow-Hecht
Melani McAlister
Khalil Gibran Muhammad
Michaela Hampf
Jasper Trautsch
Max Paul Friedman
Donald Trump
Ronald Reagan
George W. Bush
John F. Kennedy
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Lyndon B. Johnson
Jimmy Carter
Joe Biden
JD Vance
Mike Pence
Pete Hegseth
Marco Rubio
Elon Musk
Bill Gates
Jacques Chirac
Martin Luther King Jr.
Jerry Falwell
Oprah Winfrey
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Rosalynn Carter
Nancy Reagan
Melania Trump
Usha Vance
Fidel Castro
Nikita Khrushchev
John D. Rockefeller
Andrew Carnegie
Henry Ford