Trump vows America will never be a communist country at Mount Rushmore
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President Donald Trump marked the eve of America’s 250th anniversary at Mount Rushmore on Friday with a sweeping patriotic speech; He declared the United States “the most exceptional nation that has ever existed” and promised that it “will never be a communist country.”
Speaking beneath granite likenesses of four of his predecessors – George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt – Trump praised American exceptionalism as festivities marking the nation’s 250th anniversary ramped up across the country.
“Never before in all the history of the ages has a nation celebrated such a magnificent victory,” Trump told the crowd. he said.
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President Donald Trump delivers remarks at Mount Rushmore on the eve of America’s 250th anniversary. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“America, at 250 years old, is the oldest republic in the world,” he continued. “We are the freest people in the world. We have the most just and lasting Constitution in the world. We are the strongest and most powerful country in the world. And by the grace of God, the United States of America is the most successful, most successful, most exceptional nation that has ever existed in human history.”
Trump praised the country’s history and argued that no other country could be as successful as the United States.
“The birth and survival of the American nation under God is the best and most incredible thing that has happened by human hands on this planet,” he said. “No other country has done more good to this world than the United States of America.”
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Fireworks explode after President Donald Trump’s speech at Mount Rushmore National Memorial near Keystone, South Dakota, on Friday, July 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Gade)
Before Trump took the stage, the new Air Force One flew over Mount Rushmore to cheers from the audience. After his remarks, the president stayed to watch the fireworks display over the Black Hills.
Trump argued that the country faces what he describes as a growing communist movement that aims to undermine America’s “exceptional character” and “alien us from our history.”
The president said the move raises the question: “What does it mean to be an American?”
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President Donald Trump speaks at Mount Rushmore National Memorial near Keystone, South Dakota, on Friday, July 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Gade)
Trump called communism the “greatest threat” facing the United States.
“This is the greatest threat to our country, including World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor and even 9/11,” Trump said. “We will not let this happen to us. Believe me, we do not allow this because communism is the enemy of free people.”
“Communism is the opposite of life, freedom and the pursuit of happiness; it is death, tyranny and the pursuit of evil,” he continued.
“But we won’t let them win,” he added. “They have no chance against us”
Trump gave a clear mandate: “You can be loyal to Karl Marx, you can be loyal to America. You can be a communist, you can be a patriot. You can’t be both.”
President Donald Trump speaks beneath Mount Rushmore during America’s 250th anniversary celebration. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
As Americans face these choices, Trump has pointed to the country’s past sacrifices as a guide to its future.
“Our American ancestors did not shed their blood at Concord and Trenton, at Gettysburg and Shiloh, at Midway and Normandy, just so that a bunch of thieves, radicals and madmen could come along and pillage and plunder our nation,” he said.
Trump also said that the four presidents carved on the mountain behind him represent America’s founding ideals.
“They were men of action, men of ambition, men of courage, men of destiny and men of truly great intelligence,” he said. “Above all, they were great men of history. Tonight, on the threshold of our 250th anniversary, we stand beneath a monument to these heroes, a truly incredible group of men. And we dedicate ourselves to being a nation as great, as brave, as noble, as great as these American giants.”
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Trump is scheduled to give another speech Saturday on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., ahead of a fireworks display celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary.
“We know this is not the end,” Trump said. “This is just the beginning of America’s golden age.”
