(CNN) President Donald Trump was as good as his word Thursday: He saluted America.

In one of the least polarizing speeches of his presidency, Trump paid tribute to America's armed forces at a July Fourth appearance before the Lincoln Memorial in Washington that unfolded amid stormy skies and criticism that he was politicizing the nation's Independence Day celebrations.

"We will never forget that we are Americans and the future belongs to us," Trump said. "The future belongs to the brave, the strong, the proud and the free. We are one people chasing one dream and one magnificent destiny."

Trump's speech, delivered close to the spot where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I have a dream speech," lacked the dark imagery of many of his campaign speeches and struck a more optimistic tone than he typically adopts.

As warplanes roared overhead and the jumbo jet used as Air Force One performed a rare flyover over the National Mall, Trump spoke as critics accused him of exploiting the nation's birthday party for his own political ends in an event he had dubbed "A Salute to America." Trump's speech lacked the partisan rhetoric of his rallies. But the event nevertheless bolstered the President's narrative that he is a strong commander in chief and a decisive leader.

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