KEYSTONE, South Dakota, July 3 - Standing beneath the carved visages of four U.S. presidents at Mount Rushmore, President Donald Trump used the eve of Independence Day to urge citizens to preserve the liberties established by the country's founders and to resist what he portrayed as a renewed communist danger within the United States.
Addressing a crowd on the granite face of the mountain, Trump called for a national recommitment to the ideals he associated with the monument's subjects. "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, and that’s not easy to do, but we’re going to do it," he said.
Trump characterized the threat as ideological and linked it directly to progressive elements of the Democratic Party. "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. "We’re not going to let this happen."
He repeated and expanded on a theme he has emphasized in recent days about gains by democratic socialists, delivering his longest and most pointed argument on the subject at Mount Rushmore. The remarks came as Americans contend with persistent inflation and higher gasoline prices, conditions the article notes have been present since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
In his speech, Trump tied his anti-communist rhetoric to immigration, invoking the role of "newcomers to our country" as part of the ideological challenge. At one point he said the newcomers need to be expelled, saying in a broader pledge: "We resolve and swear for all to hear that the citizens of the United States of America will vanquish communism quickly ... We will send them quickly away, and we will continue to build our country bigger and better, stronger than ever before. America will never be a communist country!"
After reiterating that pledge, Trump immediately shifted emphases to the political calendar: "We can only lose the midterms if we allow ourselves to lose the midterms." His comments reflected growing concern among Republicans that the recent momentum of some left-leaning candidates could pose a risk to the party's standing in Congress in November.
Observers have pointed to a string of competitive primary victories by progressive Democrats as the catalyst for heightened Republican attention. The article records that "Four progressive candidates, including three democratic socialists, won competitive Democratic primaries in New York City last week and in Colorado on Tuesday." It also lists progressive primary wins in Kentucky, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.
Trump has previously described those outcomes in stark terms, calling the victories "the greatest threat to our country since its founding." At Mount Rushmore he expanded on that line of argument and urged a strong turnout and organizational effort to prevent losses in the midterm contests.
On Saturday, Trump was scheduled to speak again, this time on the National Mall ahead of a major fireworks display. The planned event came amid a searing heat wave that the article says has disrupted Fourth of July celebrations over a large portion of the country. By contrast, at Mount Rushmore the temperature was reported as a cool 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius).
Context and emphasis
The president framed his remarks around patriotic symbolism and the need to guard the nation's founding freedoms while linking ideological competition to immediate political stakes. His rhetoric combined anti-communist language with immigration-focused themes and electoral messaging intended to mobilize supporters ahead of the midterm elections.
Quotations preserved from the address
Key excerpts included: "We stand beneath the monument of these heroes..."; "There is now a resurgence of the communist menace in our land..."; and "We resolve and swear for all to hear that the citizens of the United States of America will vanquish communism quickly ... We will send them quickly away... America will never be a communist country!"