You can be a communist or you can be a patriot. You cannot be both.
On the nation's 250th birthday, Donald Trump stood beneath the carved faces of four presidents in the Black Hills of South Dakota and chose grievance over commemoration. Speaking to a partisan crowd at Mount Rushmore, he cast progressive Democrats, immigrants, and dissenting voices as a communist menace more dangerous than any war America had survived — a framing that arrived four months before midterm elections and amid a rising progressive tide in Democratic primaries. The speech was less a birthday address than a declaration of political war, delivered on land whose own contested history quietly contradicted the version of America he came to defend.
- With progressive candidates winning Democratic primaries across multiple states, Trump arrived at Mount Rushmore not to celebrate the nation's 250th birthday but to sound an alarm — framing their rise as an existential communist threat.
- He fused anti-immigration and anti-communism into a single enemy, declaring that 'newcomers' who embrace un-American ideas are the communist party, and pledging to 'send them into exile.'
- The speech escalated into an explicit electoral strategy: Trump called for eliminating the Senate filibuster to pass voter suppression legislation, claiming it would prevent Republican electoral losses for a century.
- Hours before Trump spoke, New York's newly elected democratic socialist mayor had delivered a pro-immigrant address widely read as a direct rebuke — making the evening feel less like a national celebration than an opening volley in a coming political battle.
- The president spoke on Black Hills land the U.S. government illegally seized from the Sioux Nation in 1877 — the very kind of historical reckoning he condemned as a Marxist lie — a contradiction that passed without remark.
Donald Trump came to Mount Rushmore on Friday night to mark America's 250th birthday, but the speech he delivered had little to do with celebration. For thirty minutes, beneath the carved faces of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln, he hammered a single message: that communism — embodied in progressive Democrats, immigrants, and those who question the nation's founding myths — posed a greater threat to America than the world wars or September 11th combined.
The timing was not accidental. Four months before midterm elections, progressive candidates were winning Democratic primaries across the country. In New York, three democratic socialists had just claimed victories. Similar results had come in Colorado, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Hours before Trump spoke, New York's newly elected mayor Zohran Mamdani — a self-described democratic socialist — had delivered a pro-immigrant address widely understood as a rebuke of Trump's movement. The president was responding to a political moment that unsettled him.
He wove together the two threads that have long defined his politics: fear of communism and fear of immigration. 'You can be a communist or you can be a patriot,' he told the crowd. 'You cannot be both.' Then he made the electoral stakes explicit, calling on Congress to eliminate the Senate filibuster and pass the Save America Act — legislation critics call voter suppression — predicting it would prevent Republican losses 'for a hundred years.'
What went unremarked was where he stood. The Black Hills are sacred to the Sioux Nation. In 1877, the U.S. government illegally seized that land, breaking a treaty it had guaranteed. Trump had come to defend American history against those who questioned it — while standing on perhaps the most vivid example of how that history was built on dispossession. The irony was absorbed into the night, as F-16s roared overhead and the crowd chanted 'USA.'
The granite faces of four dead presidents watched as Donald Trump stood at Mount Rushmore on Friday night and declared war on an enemy he said was eating America from within. The president had come to South Dakota to mark the nation's 250th birthday, but the speech that followed abandoned any pretense of unity or historical reflection. Instead, for thirty minutes, he hammered a single theme: that communism—embodied in progressive Democrats, immigrants, and what he called "newcomers to our country"—posed a greater existential threat than the world wars or September 11th combined.
The crowd, overwhelmingly white, chanted "USA! USA!" as F-16 jets roared overhead. Trump began by praising the four presidents carved into the mountain—Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Lincoln—calling them men of action and ambition. But he quickly pivoted. He spoke of attempts to "beat the American spirit out of us" and "alienate us from our history." The real enemy, he suggested, was those who told different stories about America's past, who spoke of stolen land or enslaved people, who questioned whether the nation's founders were heroes. "They are slandering and attacking our future," he said of these critics. "Not going to let that happen."
The timing was deliberate. Four months before midterm elections for Congress, progressive candidates were winning Democratic primaries across the country. In New York, four progressive candidates—three of them democratic socialists—had just won their races. Similar victories had come in Colorado, Kentucky, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Hours before Trump spoke, Zohran Mamdani, the newly elected mayor of New York and a self-described democratic socialist, had delivered a pro-immigrant speech widely understood as a rebuke of Trump's movement. The president was responding to a political moment that frightened him.
He wove together two threads that have defined his political career: anti-communism and anti-immigration. "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," he said, "including from newcomers to our country who embrace ideas totally opposed to our way of life." He painted communism in apocalyptic terms. It was the enemy of the Constitution, the enemy of July 4th, 1776. It stood for "death, tyranny and the pursuit of evil" against America's promise of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Communists, he argued, did not love God, had no respect for law or tradition, and could not be loyal to both Karl Marx and America. "You can be a communist or you can be a patriot," he declared. "You cannot be both."
Then he made the leap explicit. He called for Congress to eliminate the Senate filibuster and pass the Save America Act, legislation widely criticized as a voter suppression measure. "We do that, we're not going to lose an election for a hundred years," he said. He pledged to "vanquish communism quickly" and "send them into exile." The communists he was describing—the ones he would expel—were immigrants. "The communist party is made up of illegal immigrants, criminals and everybody that doesn't want to work," he told the crowd.
There was an irony that seemed to escape notice. Trump was speaking in the Black Hills, sacred to the Sioux Nation. In 1877, the U.S. government had illegally seized that land from the tribe, breaking a treaty guarantee. The very ground beneath Mount Rushmore was stolen land—the thing Trump had just condemned as a "Marxist lie." He had come to defend American history against those who questioned it, while standing on the most obvious example of how that history had been built on dispossession and broken promises.
Before Trump spoke, actors dressed as Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln had stood at lecterns and recited their most famous words. A country music artist performed. In the crowd, a boy held a sign reading "Trump the GOAT." On Saturday, the president was scheduled to address another crowd on the National Mall ahead of a massive fireworks display, even as a brutal heatwave swept across the country, disrupting Independence Day celebrations everywhere. His approval ratings were near historic lows. But on this night, surrounded by supporters, he had found his message for the months ahead: America was under attack, and only he could save it.
Notable Quotes
Communism is the exact opposite of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It's death, tyranny and the pursuit of evil.— Trump, at Mount Rushmore
The communist party is made up of illegal immigrants, criminals and everybody that doesn't want to work.— Trump, at Mount Rushmore
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does Trump keep returning to the communist label? It seems almost anachronistic—the Cold War ended decades ago.
Because it works. It's a word that carries weight without requiring precision. He can use it to describe anyone from democratic socialists to immigrants to progressive Democrats, and it triggers a visceral response in his base. It's also a way to make his opponents seem foreign, un-American, dangerous—not just wrong, but existential threats.
But he's also explicitly linking communism to immigration. That's a new move, isn't it?
Not entirely new for him, but he's tightening it. He's saying the communist threat isn't just ideological anymore—it's physical, it's at the border. It's people arriving. That lets him fold immigration policy into a national security argument, which is much more potent politically than just saying he doesn't like immigrants.
The irony of speaking about stolen land while standing on stolen land—did that register with anyone?
Probably not with the crowd he was addressing. But that's the point, isn't it? He's attacking people for telling stories about America's past that he finds threatening, while the ground beneath him is the most literal example of that past. He doesn't see the contradiction because he's not interested in consistency. He's interested in power.
What about the Save America Act and the filibuster comment? That seemed almost casual.
It wasn't casual at all. He's saying that if they can pass voter suppression legislation, they won't lose elections for a century. He's being remarkably direct about it. The communism rhetoric is the cover; the actual goal is to lock in Republican power through law.