President Donald Trump delivered remarks at the iconic Mount Rushmore national memorial on July 3, 2026, as part of the “Freedom 250” celebrations marking the nation’s 250th anniversary.

In his address, the President reflected on the theme of what it means to be an American and offered a sharp critique of communism, positioning his speech as a tribute to the leaders who shaped the United States. Video and Transcript Below:

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: “Well, thank you very much to the men and women of the South Dakota Air National Guard and those beautiful F-35s. We love them. And I want to thank you all for being here. This is a big crowd. This is a lovely crowd. And what a sight it is.

I want to thank Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a good friend of mine and all of us. Senator Mike Rounds, great guy. Governor Larry Rhoden . Thank you, Larry. Lieutenant Governor Venhuizen.

Oh, they’re good. I was waiting for that. They said, you start speaking, they won’t interrupt you at all. They didn’t interrupt us at all. Thank you. They’re fantastic. What great, incredible, talented pilots. Thank you very much.

Secretary Burgum, who’s doing a phenomenal job. Governor Ron DeSantis. Thank you. Governor DeSantis. Where’s Ron? Thank you, Ron.

Distinguished guests and fellow citizens, tonight, we gather on the eve of one of the most extraordinary days in the history of the world. Tomorrow, we mark 250 years of glorious independence and 250 years of majestic American freedom. Nothing like it.

In all the chronicles of the ages, never before has any nation celebrated so magnificent a triumph as this one, the one that we are participating in right now.

At 250 years, America is the oldest republic on Earth. We are the freest people on Earth. We have the most righteous and enduring constitution on Earth. We are the strongest and most powerful country on Earth. And by the grace of God, the United States of America is the most successful, most accomplished, most exceptional nation ever to exist in human history.

And it is great to be your President. It is great. Your President. It is great.

For a quarter of a millennium, liberty, justice, equality, self-government, and unmatched prosperity have flourished here as they have never flourished anywhere before. There is nothing like what we are doing.

The birth and survival of the American nation under God is quite simply the best and most incredible thing ever to happen on this planet by human hands ever. That is ever, ever, ever. No other country has done more good for this world than the United States of America. And we give thanks for these extraordinary blessings.

We must remember that what we have created in this country is not the natural way of the world. It is not the norm. It is the exception. It is rare. It is priceless. And it is truly miraculous.

Throughout the entire story of humanity, most people in most places have lived a life plagued by suffering, poverty, exploitation, violence, and misery. But here in America, in this land, on this continent, we have written a very different story. It’s a tale of adventure, liberation, and unmatched greatness.

It’s the story of people governing themselves, the many uniting as one, the men and women rising by their own skill and talent to go further and reach higher than anyone has ever gone before. There has never been anything like this.

The triumph of American independence was the result of the most extraordinary people in history, the most extraordinary culture in history, and the most extraordinary ideas in history, all creating the most extraordinary republic ever, ever, ever in history. It all came together for the miracle of July 4th, 1776. That was a big year. 250 years ago, tomorrow. What a big day that is.

I consider this a big day because I’m with you. I like that too. And by the way, we won big here. We won really big. Each and every time.

But 250 years ago tomorrow, the words of our Declaration of Independence sent an earthquake through all of the coming time. They sparked a revolution that has never ended but still continues to this day.

And tonight, we come to this beautiful mountain, and it is beautiful, to express our gratitude to those who made it possible, starting with the four men most responsible for reaching this milestone more than any others.

We salute the father of our country, George Washington. The author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson. The great emancipator and savior of our union, Abraham Lincoln. And the man who built America into a global superpower, Theodore Roosevelt.

These are the men who declared the freedom, won our freedom, saved our freedom, and secured our freedom. They were men of action, men of ambition, men of daring, men of destiny, and men of truly great intelligence. Above all, they were great men of history.

Tonight, on the threshold of our 250th year, 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.

These men could only have been made in the USA. Their faces are engraved on these bluffs, not only because of what they did, but to remind us forever who we are. These heroes exemplify what is timeless, enduring, and eternal about the American character.

And in the end, it has always been that character, our distinct and unique identity.

It is a truly unique identity, and it’ll never change. It’s the ultimate source of our strength and the bulwark of our freedom.
On this anniversary, we must remember, we have to remember, we can never forget that American liberty has not endured for 250 years merely because of words on paper. Liberty has prevailed here because of the culture and character of the people who declared it, defended it, and preserved it.

These are very, very special times, and this is a very special place. You live in a very special place. Congratulations, everybody.

The identity of a nation is the destiny of a nation, and America has a destiny like no other because we are a people like no other. For whatever reason, that’s just the way it is.

Here, the old world sent its bravest, boldest, and most resilient, its fiercest, most faithful, and freedom-loving. These men and women brought values, traditions, and customs transmitted over the centuries in Britain and stretching back even further to Athens, Jerusalem, and Rome.

The United States of America is where the greatest civilization in human history became greater than ever before. On the grounds and granite hills and the rugged plains of this wide-open continent, they forged a uniquely American character, a new breed of citizen. That’s you. Congratulations. Congratulations.

You’re not that new a breed. You’re a really good breed, but I’m not sure that you’re that new a breed.

Americans did not bow before a king or a government, but kneeled only before Almighty God. That’s right.

These were the people who founded our republic. These were the patriots who fought for independence. This was the spirit that demanded freedom, and this was the culture that built America and carved its heroes into Mount Rushmore.

For generations, it was understood that the core patriotic duty of every American was to pass this culture on to our children and to preserve the nation for centuries and centuries to come.

But in recent years, there’s been an undeniable attempt to change this exceptional character, to beat the American spirit out of us, alienate us from our history, and to make it impossible to even answer the question, what does it mean to be an American?

As we march into our 250th year, credible, beautiful year it will be, we must never forget there is no American freedom without American culture. And there is no American founding without the American people.

Many nations have paper constitutions and legal systems, but the citizens live in fear and squalor. A constitution is only as strong as the people and the culture responsible for upholding it.

But as long as we remember who we are, we have to always remember who we are and what we’re all about, the United States of America will forever be the land of free men and women, and we will never, ever fail.

So tonight, let us say clearly and proudly what makes Americans so unique and extraordinary. We’re going to give our country its identity back.

Above all, Americans love freedom. We cherish independence, and we know that we are the heirs to the most beautiful land, the most thrilling story, and the most precious legacy in which the sun has ever shined.

In America, we do not need anyone’s permission to say what we think and to live as we please, to worship as we choose, or to keep and bear arms. You know that. And for almost six years during my presidency, I’ve saved almost single-handedly, but working with John and some other great people. We’ve saved your Second Amendment, and I will continue to do so, I promise. Our rights here are given to us by the God who made us and those rights shall not be infringed.

Americans believe in self-reliance. We look at success with envy not. And I say that some people are envious and some people are not. We are not. But with admiration and we earn it and we will always earn it and we will always respect it.

We are an incredible, good, kind and generous people, always ready to help a friend or a neighbor in need. No one has ever given more to charity, ended more hunger, cured more disease, or done more to uplift humanity than Americans, and no country ever will be able to match it. Thank you. So true.

Americans honor excellence. We admire boldness. We respect ambition. We are a nation of dreamers and believers, warriors and explorers, doers and fighters. In every human endeavor, Americans see an unfinished competition. What is strong can be made stronger. What is fast can be made faster. What is great can be made greater than ever before. And that’s what’s happening with America.

Show us a mountain, and we’ll just climb it. Show us an ocean, and we’ll just cross it. Show us a problem, and we will just solve it. Show us a task the world calls impossible and Americans will get it done.

Americans are strong and always ready to stand firm for a good cause. We treasure justice, fairness, family, honesty, and human dignity. Unlike societies based on class, clan, or tribe, we see every citizen as an individual equal under the law and equal under the eyes of the Lord.

In America, we speak English because that is the language of our founding. For a thousand years, that has been the language of freedom.

An American always wants peace and order, but we will never shrink from danger or threat. We will always fight, fight, fight, and win, win, win. We’ve got to do that.

Because this is our culture, this is our character. Not every American is all of these things, but every American knows these are the traits that make our country exceptional. And exceptional it is.

You do not have to be born here, but you do have to love what we have built. You must love our country. There has never been anything like us anywhere on Earth, and we are not going to let anyone take that away.

Yet, as we approach this magnificent anniversary, we see our American identity under a renewed attack. A generation after we fought and won the Cold War against the menace of communism, 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.

These are not mere political disagreements like differences over taxes or regulations. Communism is a mortal threat to American liberty. It is the greatest threat to our country, including World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, or even 9-11. We’re not going to let this happen to us. Believe me, we’re not letting it happen.

Because communism is the enemy of free people everywhere, everywhere in the world. Never works. It’s the enemy of the Constitution. Above all, it’s the enemy of July 4th, 1776. It is the enemy indeed.

Even while the radicals and extremists attack our incredible history at every turn, they are silent on the miserable history of communism itself because it never worked. Thousands of years, if you look at it, under different names, under somewhat different ideologies and systems, that system has led to more death and destruction than any system ever tried. It killed 100 million people just in the last century alone.

Communism is the exact opposite of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It’s death, tyranny, and the pursuit of evil. The godless communist morality states that anything is justified to bring about inhuman visions and to really propose what’s good. They don’t want good. They don’t love God, and they don’t want God. They don’t love religion and they don’t want religion and they won’t have it. But we will not let them win. They have no chance against us.

They have no respect for law, justice, principle, tradition, or your God-given rights. It’s an ideology of mass theft, mass control, mass lies, and mass murder. Such doctrines can be given no quarter in a democracy because the first thing they do when they get into power is turn around and destroy it. It always is destroyed, just as communists have done in other countries all over the world, no matter where you look.

Very simply, communism represents the worst ideas and abuses in history by the worst people. The American founding represents the best ideas and traditions in history by the best people like you.

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.

As for those who peddle Marxist lies about our heritage, tell our children that we live on stolen land or that our heroes were oppressors, they’re doing something much worse than slandering our past. They are slandering and attacking our future. Not going to let that happen.

They’re trying to tear down the great American character to destroy the people who declared independence, who crossed the Delaware, who settled the West and conquered the skies. You know who those people are. But we will never let that happen.

Our American ancestors did not shed their blood at Concord and Trenton, Gettysburg and Shiloh, Midway and Normandy, just so that a band of thieves, radicals, and lunatics could come in and loot and pillage our nation. Our heroes died to win, build, and to save, and to build truly a great country, the greatest country ever in the world.

So, on the eve of this 250th anniversary of American heritage, we resolve and swear for all to hear that the citizens of the United States of America will vanquish communism quickly. Don’t let them take too much of your time. You know they’re wasting your time, don’t you?

But we’re not going to let them take too long or too much of our time as they play their games and send them into exile. We will send them quickly away and we will continue to build our country bigger and better and stronger than ever before. America will never be a communist country.

We can only lose the midterms if we allow ourselves to lose the midterms if we are foolish, stupid, and unwise. But if we terminate the filibuster as we should do and immediately vote for the Save America Act, then we will not lose an election for 100 years.

We do that. We’re not going to lose an election for 100 years. The Communist Party is made up of illegal immigrants, criminals, and everybody that doesn’t want to work. Communism is a loser. It always was, and it is right now.

It’s a big loser. Look at the people that are promoting it. They are not the people you’re going to follow.

In 250 years, the free people of this land have accomplished more with our liberty than any other society has accomplished, even in thousands and thousands of years, as you look back and you study. What our critics will never understand is that America is not the sum of its mistakes. Our mistakes make us human.

Our achievements make us American. And nobody has ever had the achievements that we’ve had. We are the nation that dreamed and created the modern world. We laid the railroads. We raised up those big, beautiful skyscrapers, harnessed electricity, and invented the light bulb, the telephone, the airplane, the assembly line, the television, the microchip, the personal computer, the internet, the GPS, the smartphone, and almost everything else that has ever been invented, including, especially over the last few days in certain areas, a thing called air conditioning.

We invented it all. We charted the human genome to cure diseases. We powered entire cities by splitting single atoms and planted our flag on the moon. Americans fill the airwaves of the planet with our music and our culture. We invented baseball, basketball, football, volleyball, NASCAR, and the rodeo.

We love that rodeo of the West. Americans have won the most Olympic medals of any country in the world by far, the most Nobel prizes. Well, they haven’t given me one. It’s the elite wars. I still haven’t gotten it. That’s okay.

And the most world records. We published by far the most patents. We produce the best movies. We make the best music. And we raise up the greatest entertainers and strongest athletes the world has ever seen. So true.

We built the biggest and most dynamic economy. And by the way, our country today is doing better than it’s ever done before. Never had anything like it.

With as of last week, $19.2 trillion pouring into the United States right now from all over the world. That’s the investments being made. And the record was three. Four years and four years. The last administration did much less than one, and we did 19.2 in 12 months.

And thanks to our great election win, November 5th, and the tariffs, plants and factories are being built all over the United States right now, and they’re being built at a number that we’ve never, ever seen before. So much more. There’s — we’re breaking records by double, triple, quadruple.

We created the strongest and most powerful military. We won two world wars — the Cold War — left America’s enemies in the depths of history. We beat Venezuela in one day, and we knocked the hell out of Iran. They’re dying to settle. They want to settle so badly. We gave them a week off for a funeral because we’re nice.

For 250 years, the entire world has looked to our country and been inspired by the leaps of progress, feats of strength, and acts of selflessness, faith, and hope that could only have happened right here.

Two years ago, we were laughed at, mocked, and the nation in decline. We were in very serious decline. Last administration, what they’ve done to us, we can never, ever forget that. And today we are the hottest country anywhere in the world. Everybody respects us like no nation.

Remember this, we’re respected like no nation in the world is respected like us. Every king, every prime minister, every president, they respect us more than any other country by far. Two years ago, they laughed at us. Now it’s only respect. And I want to tell you, the best is yet to come.

So, in conclusion, from the roaring waters of Niagara Falls, to the shimmering gushes of oil and fire from our beloved Texas, from the magnificent fields of corn and wheat and barley of our farms in the Midwest, to the vast canyons of finance in New York City, from the billowing sacks of steel now being produced all over our country at record levels, to the car plants that are rising like we have never seen before.

We have more plants under construction than we’ve had ever before. Automobile plants, something you didn’t see of at all for 35 years. To technology from the minds of geniuses that is being brought to life in all corners of our country, from the snow-capped peaks of the Rockies to the white sand shores of the Gulf of America. And to right here in the Black Hills of the Dakotas.

After 250 years, American freedom still rings. The American dream still lives, and the American flag still flies more proudly than ever before. Over the people who will not quit, the nation that will not fail, the country that will not fall, no matter how hard the enemy tries, we cannot be beaten.

Tomorrow, we reach a milestone like no other and celebrate with joyful hearts and soaring spirits because after two and a half centuries, we know that this is not an ending. This is only the beginning of the Golden Age of America.

And together, we will make America bigger, better, and stronger than ever before. I promise you that. It’s an honor to be your president.

Thank you very much and happy Independence Day to all. God bless you all. God bless you all. Thank you.

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