President Donald Trump speaks at Mount Rushmore National Memorial on July 3, 2026, near Keystone, South Dakota. Trump spoke before a fireworks show at the mountain carving, kicking off a weekend of 250th Independence Day celebrations across the country. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

On the eve of the nation’s 250th birthday, President Donald Trump used his address Friday night at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota to allege that there is “a resurgence of the communist menace in our land.”

“Communism is a mortal threat to American liberty,” Trump said. “It is the greatest threat to our country, including World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor or even 9/11.”

Though he did not directly link Democratic socialists to communism in the speech, the rhetoric continued a recent theme of criticism by Trump alluding to electoral successes by Democratic socialist candidates. That includes New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Darializa Avila Chevalier, who upset a Democratic New York City congressman last month in a primary election.

Fireworks explode above Mount Rushmore National Memorial after a speech by President Donald Trump on July 3, 2026, near Keystone, South Dakota. The event kicked off a weekend of 250th Independence Day celebrations across the country. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Fireworks explode above Mount Rushmore National Memorial after a speech by President Donald Trump on July 3, 2026, near Keystone, South Dakota. The event kicked off a weekend of 250th Independence Day celebrations across the country. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Democratic socialists advocate for expanding parts of the social safety net, such as health care coverage, through democratic means. Communist tenants include central economic planning and abolishing private property.

In Trump’s speech, he pivoted from communism to Republican chances in the November midterm elections.

“America will never be a communist country,” Trump said, adding “we can only lose the midterms” if “we are foolish, stupid and unwise.”

He then said Republicans will “not lose an election for a hundred years” if they terminate the filibuster and pass the SAVE America Act. The filibuster is a U.S. Senate rule that requires the votes of at least 60 senators to limit debate on most bills. The SAVE America Act would require all voters to prove their U.S. citizenship when they register and show identification at the polls.

Trump made those remarks with U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, in the audience. Thune has pledged to protect the filibuster, which he’s called “a critical protection that ensures representation of the minority party in the Senate.”

Last week, Trump canceled a signing ceremony for a bipartisan housing bill and said he wouldn’t sign that legislation until Congress sent him the SAVE Act.

Thune, who did not deliver a speech Friday night, responded last week by saying “there are not the votes to nuke the filibuster and there aren’t going to be 10 Democrat votes to all of a sudden support the SAVE America Act. Those are just hard realities and I think people at some point have to come to grips with that.”

Earlier in Trump’s speech, he called Thune “a good friend of mine and all of us.” Thune met Trump earlier at Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City when Air Force One landed there.

Trump was preceded at the podium Friday night by South Dakota Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who formerly served as governor of North Dakota. A fireworks display followed Trump’s speech.

This story will be updated with further details.

Air Force One flies over Mount Rushmore National Memorial in western South Dakota on July 3, 2026, before a fireworks display attended by President Donald Trump. (Photo by Meghan O'Brien/South Dakota Searchlight)
Air Force One flies over Mount Rushmore National Memorial in western South Dakota on July 3, 2026, before a fireworks display attended by President Donald Trump. (Photo by Meghan O’Brien/South Dakota Searchlight)
A George Washington impersonator descends a set of stairs in the Mount Rushmore National Memorial amphitheater at South Dakota's Freedom 250 Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration on July 3, 2026. (Photo by Meghan O'Brien/South Dakota Searchlight)
A George Washington impersonator descends a set of stairs in the Mount Rushmore National Memorial amphitheater at South Dakota’s Freedom 250 Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration on July 3, 2026. (Photo by Meghan O’Brien/South Dakota Searchlight)
An attendee at South Dakota’s Freedom 250 Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration wears a stars-and-stripes button-up shirt and a “Make America Great Again” hat on July 3, 2026. (Photo by Meghan O’Brien/South Dakota Searchlight)
Attendees walk toward the amphitheater to get their seats for South Dakota’s Freedom 250 Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration on July 3, 2026. (Photo by Meghan O'Brien/South Dakota Searchlight)
Attendees walk toward the amphitheater to get their seats for South Dakota’s Freedom 250 Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration on July 3, 2026. (Photo by Meghan O’Brien/South Dakota Searchlight)
Jan Rudd traveled from Texas to Keystone, South Dakota, on July 3, 2026, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s founding. When asked what the anniversary meant to her, she said “Everything. Freedom, America.
Jan Rudd traveled from Texas to Keystone, South Dakota, on July 3, 2026, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s founding. When asked what the anniversary meant to her, she said “Everything. Freedom, America.” (Photo by Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
National Guard soldiers and law enforcement patrol the designated protest area and enterance into Mount Rushmore along a highway leading out of Keystone, South Dakota on July 3, 2026. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
President Donald Trump supporter Rudy Martinez sets up flags and hats to sell along a highway on July 3, 2026, in Keystone, South Dakota. The highway leads to Mount Rushmore, where Trump was scheduled to speak before a fireworks display. (Photo by Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
President Donald Trump supporter Rudy Martinez sets up flags and hats to sell along a highway on July 3, 2026, in Keystone, South Dakota. The highway leads to Mount Rushmore, where Trump was scheduled to speak before a fireworks display. (Photo by Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Leann Pearson, 67, of Fairfield, California, poses for a photo at South Dakota’s Freedom 250 Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration on July 3, 2026. (Photo by Meghan O'Brien/South Dakota Searchlight)
Leann Pearson, 67, of Fairfield, California, poses for a photo at South Dakota’s Freedom 250 Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration on July 3, 2026. (Photo by Meghan O’Brien/South Dakota Searchlight)
Park rangers and military personnel monitor walkways during South Dakota’s Freedom 250 Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration on July 3, 2026. (Photo by Meghan O'Brien/South Dakota Searchlight)
Park rangers and military personnel monitor walkways during South Dakota’s Freedom 250 Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration on July 3, 2026. (Photo by Meghan O’Brien/South Dakota Searchlight)
Fritz Klein, left, has been impersonating President Abraham Lincoln for decades. He spoke with park rangers and guests at a Freedom 250 fireworks display at Mount Rushmore National Memorial on July 3, 2026. (Photo by Meghan O'Brien/South Dakota Searchlight)
Fritz Klein, left, has been impersonating President Abraham Lincoln for decades. He spoke with park rangers and guests at a Freedom 250 fireworks display at Mount Rushmore National Memorial on July 3, 2026. (Photo by Meghan O’Brien/South Dakota Searchlight)
Mary Lou Emerson, 84, and her son, Ron Emerson, both of Willis, Texas, pose for a photo at South Dakota’s Freedom 250 Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration on July 3, 2026. (Photo by Meghan O'Brien/South Dakota Searchlight)
Mary Lou Emerson, 84, and her son, Ron Emerson, both of Willis, Texas, pose for a photo at South Dakota’s Freedom 250 Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration on July 3, 2026. (Photo by Meghan O’Brien/South Dakota Searchlight)