Trump visits Mount Rushmore for first time in 6 years, rails against 'communism'

US President Donald Trump visited Mount Rushmore in South Dakota on Thursday (local time) for the first time in six years, marking the eve of the nation's 250th Independence Day.

Trump delivered a speech at the park, where the faces of four former presidents — George Washington (1st), Thomas Jefferson (3rd), Abraham Lincoln (16th) and Theodore Roosevelt (26th) — are carved into the granite mountainside. Before the address, Air Force One made a ceremonial flyover above the monument.

In his speech, Trump celebrated the United States as the world's "oldest republic" on its 250th anniversary, saying it had achieved more than any nation in human history and calling it "the most exceptional country that has ever existed."

Trump devoted much of his address to attacking Democratic Socialists — a rising left-wing faction within the opposition Democratic Party — labeling them communists. "America's identity is under fresh attack," he said. "A generation after we fought and won the Cold War against communism, a communist threat is rising on our own soil."

He went on to say that this included "immigrants who embrace ideologies completely opposed to our way of life and our great success," adding, "We will not let them win. They cannot beat us."

Trump also said the United States would "never become a communist country," and that the only way Republicans could lose the midterm elections was "if we allow ourselves to lose — if we are foolish, stupid and unwise."

He then called for abolishing the Senate filibuster and passing the so-called Save America Act, a voter ID bill, saying, "If we do that, we will not lose an election for 100 years."

On Iran, Trump said, "They desperately want negotiations," adding that his administration had given Tehran "a week off to hold the funeral" of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei. "We've been kind for 250 years," he said.

Trump's previous visit to Mount Rushmore was on July 3, 2020 — a Friday during his first term — when he held a rally ahead of the presidential election. The event drew criticism for pressing ahead with a political gathering to energize supporters over the Independence Day holiday even as COVID-19 infections were surging.

This year, Trump made the trip to South Dakota amid a record-breaking heat wave gripping the eastern United States, where daytime temperatures exceeded 40 degrees Celsius, forcing the cancellation of numerous 250th anniversary pre-events across the country.

With midterm elections scheduled for November, Trump has been working to make this year's 250th anniversary celebrations as grand as possible. Entering the second year of his second term, with his approval rating under pressure from rising prices linked in part to the war with Iran, he has sought to use the occasion to showcase his administration's record.

En route from Washington to Mount Rushmore, Trump posted on his Truth Social account touting his second administration's record — a surging stock market, tax cuts, a reduced trade deficit and new investment — writing, "This is what winning looks like. America's golden age is beginning."

Meanwhile, Trump has repeatedly denied reports that he wants his own face added to Mount Rushmore.

The White House said in a statement to The Washington Post on Thursday that "there is no better president to add to the iconic Mount Rushmore than Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th president of the United States." Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), a pro-Trump Republican, introduced legislation during Trump's second term to carve his likeness into the monument.