Trump Delivers Politically Charged Speech at Mount Rushmore for US 250th Anniversary

President Donald Trump kicked off the United States’ 250th birthday celebrations with a politically charged speech at Mount Rushmore on Friday night, delivering remarks beneath the granite monument as the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln look on.

“Trump posts video of his likeness on Mount Rushmore sculpture ahead of politically charged speech Trump delivered remarks at the famed national memorial on Friday night”

ABC News

Trump said, “Tomorrow, we mark 250 years of glorious independence and 250 years of majestic American freedom. Nothing like it,” and he framed American identity as facing “an undeniable attempt to change this exceptional character.”

ABC News

In the same speech, Trump described communism as “a mortal threat to American liberty,” and he warned that “there’s been an undeniable attempt” to beat the American spirit out of the country.

The address came as Trump flew to Keystone, South Dakota, on the newly retrofitted Air Force One 747, a gift from the Qatari royal family, and the aircraft conducted a flyover over Mount Rushmore National Memorial ahead of his remarks.

Trump’s speech at Mount Rushmore veered into warnings about communism, with the AP reporting he said, “It is the greatest threat to our country, including World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor or even 9/11.”

In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, delivered his own address that cast America as a nation of contradictions, and the AP quoted him saying, “working each day towards the perfection in which it was conceived.”

Al Jazeera

The AP also tied the holiday’s political tone to conditions on the ground, noting that Philadelphia canceled its Salute to Independence parade Friday and that the Great American State Fair in Washington shut down in the early afternoon before reopening at 5 p.m.

The AP said officials warned people celebrating the holiday to stay hydrated and take air-conditioned breaks as needed, while the day’s events included the Capitol Fourth concert opening later than normal and moving forward with appearances from Patti LaBelle and Trace Adkins.

Trump’s Mount Rushmore remarks set up a larger Independence Day program in Washington, where the “Salute to America 250 Celebration & Fireworks” celebration begins Saturday at 7 p.m. in the nation’s capital.

“Trump hails US exceptionalism before veering into darkly political speech to usher in America 250 Trump hails US exceptionalism before veering into darkly political speech to usher in America 250 WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump ushered in the 250th anniversary of American independence on Friday with soaring rhetoric about American exceptionalism before veering into a darkly political speech with warnings about a sinister threat of communism that evoked one of the country’s ugliest chapters”

AP News

ABC News said the event will culminate in a large fireworks display, described as “the first fireworks show at the national memorial in years,” according to the National Park Service, and it added that Trump has teased a long speech to mark the occasion.

The AP reported that Trump would deliver another speech at the National Mall in Washington before what is being billed as a historically massive fireworks show, while noting that an Independence Day parade scheduled for Saturday in Washington was canceled.

In the background of the celebrations, Al Jazeera reported that Trump used the opening weekend to praise the US military and critique democratic socialists, warning of a “communist menace” that he said poses a major threat to the country.