President Donald Trump delivered a speech at Mount Rushmore late Friday night, July 3, 2026, warning that the nation faces a “communist menace” as it marks its 250th anniversary of independence, according to NBC News coverage of the event.
In a half-hour address beneath the carved faces of four presidents, Trump coupled patriotic messages about American power and greatness with a stark warning about what he characterized as a resurgent communist threat. “You can be loyal to Karl Marx or you can be loyal to America. You can be a communist or you can be a patriot. You cannot be both,” Trump said.
Trump called communism “a mortal threat to American liberty,” equating it to “the enemy of the Constitution” and “the enemy of July 4, 1776.” He resolved that “the citizens of the United States of America will vanquish communism quickly.” The president did not name specific political figures he views as communist sympathizers, though he has recently depicted democratic socialists who won primary races in New York as leftists bent on destroying American traditions.
The speech reflected Trump’s emerging midterm strategy, which increasingly centers on anti-communist rhetoric. France 24 reported that the language evoked the Red Scare of the 1950s, one of the country’s most turbulent chapters, when alleged communists were persecuted and blacklisted from jobs. Trump tied his anti-communist messaging to immigration concerns, stating that “newcomers to our country” embrace ideas “totally opposed to our way of life.” He vowed that such newcomers would be “expelled.”
The Mount Rushmore event marked Trump’s first return to the monument since 2020, and the first fireworks display there in six years. The celebration was held as Americans navigate persistent inflation and high gas prices following the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. Republican lawmakers, increasingly uneasy about midterm losses, have seized on recent victories by left-wing Democratic candidates to energize the party base. Trump last week called the progressive primary wins “the greatest threat to our country since its founding.”
The speech also emphasized American exceptionalism and constitutional principles. Trump praised the four presidents carved into the mountain, saying Americans would “rededicate ourselves to being a nation as big, bold, noble, and as great as these American giants.” He made brief mention of the Nobel Peace Prize, noting that Americans have won the most such awards while remarking ruefully that “they haven’t given me one.”
Sources
- NBC News — Trump’s Mount Rushmore speech, quotes about communism and unity, event details, and background on his rhetoric regarding democratic socialists
- France 24 — Analysis of Trump’s anti-communist messaging, ties to immigration rhetoric, Red Scare parallels, and midterm election context
