President Trump delivered remarks at Mount Rushmore in Keystone, S.D., issuing a fierce rebuke of communism and saying "such doctrines can be given no quarter" before a fireworks display to kick off a weekend of America’s 250th-anniversary celebrations across the country.
Preparations for the event included a designated First Amendment area for protesters.
Weather interfered with the pre-program, with rain and hail forcing visitors to seek shelter in a cafeteria on the grounds, though spectators arrived to watch the fireworks display.
The visit took place as a heatwave gripped the U.S., and Mr. Trump was scheduled to address a crowd on the national mall on Saturday ahead of a massive fireworks show.
Mr. Trump praised the U.S. military during the address, saying, "We created the strongest and most powerful military. We won two world wars," and claimed the Cold War had left the country's enemies "in the depths of history." He also said the U.S. had "beat Venezuela in one day" and "knocked the hell out of Iran." Briefly addressing the Iran war, he said Tehran is "dying to settle" and referred to a days-long state funeral for the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a strike on the first day of the U.S.-Israeli war, saying Washington had granted "a week off for a funeral because we're nice."
He warned of a "resurgence of the communist menace," said American identity was under attack from "radicals" and "extremists," and declared, "You can be a communist, or you can be a patriot. You cannot be both." He also called communism "the enemy of the Constitution" and pledged that "the citizens of the United States of America will vanquish communism quickly," tying his anti-communist rhetoric to a hardline immigration stance and suggesting left-wing political figures and certain undocumented arrivals should be removed from the country.
Mr. Trump urged Congress to abolish the filibuster and pass the SAVE America Act, saying the measure would require Americans to prove they are U.S. citizens when they register to vote and to show a valid photo identification before casting ballots, and that doing so would ensure Republicans win the midterm elections in November.
He spoke for half an hour Friday night, was greeted by chants of "USA! USA!" and was briefly interrupted by a flyover of F-16 jets, and he praised the four presidents whose faces are carved into the mountain.
Earlier in the evening, actors portraying Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln stood behind lecterns on a blue-carpeted stage and delivered some of their most famous quotations; country music artist Chancey Williams played a set, and a boy in the crowd held a handwritten sign reading "Trump the GOAT."
Mr. Trump has never ruled out the idea of his own face being added to Mount Rushmore, though Congress would have to approve any change. Lead sculptor Gutzon Borglum wrote that "the stone limitations are so serious, that I doubt if it would be possible to change the composition, which is fixed, in any way to include a fifth head." The sculpture was built from 1927 to 1941.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna introduced a bill calling for Mr. Trump's likeness to be carved on the mountain that never advanced out of committee, and South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden said, "there's supposedly not enough room up there to add another face, but if they were able to find some extra space to add someone, I think presidents Trump or Reagan would be good candidates!" Sen. Mike Rounds said, "I think America decides those things." A supporter who won a special lottery to attend said, "He's the greatest president we've had in my lifetime," and impersonators of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln roaming the grounds said they favored preserving the monument intact.
Mr. Trump labeled the rise of democratic socialists "the greatest threat to our country since its founding," comparing the movement's potential impact with World War II and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and he closed the address by calling the anniversary "the beginning of the golden age of America." The remarks followed a string of recent progressive primary victories in states including New York, Colorado and Texas.
Republican strategist Eli Bremer said parts of the speech were unifying enough that they "could have been delivered by Ronald Reagan ... 45 years ago," while Democratic strategist Ameshia Cross said Mr. Trump wants to wipe out the country's diverse history and that the speech reflected "a president who sees his grip on America steadily slipping away." She added it came "on the heels of him losing a Supreme Court decision just a couple of days ago to eradicate birthright citizenship."
In New York, progressive Mayor Zohran Mamdani offered an alternative narrative during a naturalization ceremony, using a desk once belonging to George Washington to praise immigrants' contributions and frame civic dissent as patriotism, and Democrats criticized the administration's handling of the anniversary, alleging a conservative group took control of 250th-anniversary planning from a previously bipartisan congressional commission.
An excessive heat dome threatened Fourth of July festivities, forcing cancellations, delays and other changes; Washington, D.C., canceled its annual parade late Friday and pushed back the opening of the "Great American..."
Mr. Trump was also teasing a massive fireworks display in Washington, D.C., described as the grand finale to a series of Independence Day celebrations.