President Donald Trump delivered a fiery Independence Day address at Mount Rushmore on Friday, casting domestic political opponents as existential threats to American identity and declaring communism the nation’s “mortal enemy” on the eve of the United States’ 250th anniversary.
Speaking beneath the towering granite faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, Trump framed the celebration as a defense of the nation’s founding principles against what he described as a resurgent communist menace. “There is now a resurgence of the communist menace in our land, including from newcomers to our country who embrace ideas totally opposed to our way of life and our great success,” he said in a 30-minute address. “We’re not going to let this happen.”
Trump’s speech, delivered under a storm warning with temperatures forecast to reach 100°F (38°C), positioned the 250th anniversary not as a unifying moment but as a clarion call to rally against internal enemies. He warned that “radicals and extremists” sought to “loot and pillage” the nation, and that the upcoming November midterm elections represented a battle for the country’s soul. “America will never be a communist country,” he declared. “We may lose the congressional elections only if we allow it—if we are imprudent, foolish, and reckless.”
The president’s rhetoric echoed the anti-communist fervor of the 1950s Red Scare, framing ideological opposition as an existential threat to national survival. He singled out progressive Democrats, immigrants and critics of American history as complicit in this perceived danger. “You can be a communist or you can be a patriot,” Trump said. “You cannot be both. Those who spread Marxist lies about our heritage and tell our children that we live on stolen land or that our heroes were oppressors do worse than slander our past—they attack our future.”
The speech came as extreme heat forced cancellations of parades and public gatherings across the country, including in Washington, D.C., where organizers scrambled to adjust plans for the main Independence Day festivities. Trump, however, framed the challenges as part of a broader struggle. “We stand beneath the monument of these heroes—a true group of unbelievable people—and we rededicate ourselves to being a nation as big, bold, noble, and as great as these American giants,” he said.
Critics accused Trump of hijacking the anniversary to advance his political agenda. In New York, Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivered a counter-message celebrating an inclusive and solidaristic society, contrasting sharply with Trump’s nationalist vision. French newspaper *Libération* described Trump’s address as a “cardboard speech” before the granite monument, while *Mediapart* noted that the president’s narrative excluded slavery, segregation and the genocide of Indigenous peoples.
The president’s speech also underscored deep divisions over how to commemorate the nation’s founding. While Trump celebrated American exceptionalism and Christian nationalism, critics argued that the anniversary had become a platform for division rather than unity. In Washington, the official celebrations were overshadowed by logistical challenges and political infighting, with some events canceled or scaled back due to the heat.
As the United States marked its 250th year, Trump’s address at Mount Rushmore served as both a celebration of national pride and a warning of impending ideological conflict—one that he framed as a fight for the country’s survival.
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