Trump hails America as 'most exceptional nation ever to exist' in Mount Rushmore speech

President Donald Trump marked the eve of America's 250th anniversary with a sweeping patriotic address at Mount Rushmore on Friday, declaring the United States the "most exceptional nation ever to exist" and vowing that it would "never be a Communist country."

Speaking beneath the granite likenesses of four of his predecessors — George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt — Trump touted American exceptionalism as festivities marking the nation's 250th anniversary ramped up across the country.

"In all the chronicles of the ages, never before has any nation celebrated so magnificent a triumph as this one," Trump told the crowd.

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"At 250 years, America is the oldest republic on earth," he continued. "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."

Trump praised the nation's history and argued that no other country had achieved as much as the United States.

"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," he said. "No other country has done more good for this world than the United States of America."

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Before Trump took the stage, the new Air Force One flew over Mount Rushmore as spectators cheered. After his remarks, the president stayed to watch a fireworks display over the Black Hills.

Trump argued the country was facing what he described as a growing communist movement that sought to undermine America's "exceptional character" and "alienate us from our history."

The president said the movement had raised the question, "What does it mean to be an American?"

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Trump described communism as "the greatest threat" facing the United States.

"It is the greatest threat to our country, including World War One, World War Two, Pearl Harbor, or even 9/11," Trump said. "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."

"Communism is the exact opposite of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness — it is death, tyranny and the pursuit of evil," he continued.

"But we will not let them win," he added. "They have no chance against us."

Trump issued a clear directive: "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 Americans face those choices, Trump pointed to the nation's past sacrifices as a guide for its future.

"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, pillage our nation," he said.

Trump also highlighted the four presidents carved into the mountain behind him, saying they represented America's founding ideals.

"They were men of action, men of ambition, men of daring, men of destiny, and men of truly great intelligence," he said. "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."

Trump is scheduled to deliver another speech Saturday on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. before a fireworks display celebrating the nation's 250th anniversary.

"We know that this is not an ending," Trump said. "This is only the beginning of the golden age of America."