President Donald Trump delivered a historic speech commemorating America’s 250th birthday at Mount Rushmore on Friday, giving a stark warning about the country’s future: If we are to sustain the nation for another 250 years, communism can have “no quarter” here.
Speaking hours after New York City communist Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivered an anti-American, communist speech about America 250, Trump took the stage to warn that foreigners are bringing with them ideologies fundamentally at odds with our republic.
“There is now a resurgence of the communist menace in our land, including from newcomers to our country who embrace ideas totally opposed to our way of life and our great success,” Trump said.
The warning is similar to a warning given by Alexander Hamilton in 1799: “I hold with Montesquieu, that a government must be fitted to a nation, as much as a coat to the individual; and, consequently, that what may be good at Philadelphia may be bad at Paris, and ridiculous at Petersburg.”
In other words, not every people is capable of living in and upholding a republic — Ugandan-born socialist Mamdani being example No. 1.
“These are not mere political disagreements, like differences over taxes or regulations,” the president continued, “communism is a mortal threat to American liberty. It is the greatest threat to our country. … Communism is the enemy of free people everywhere. … It’s the enemy of the Constitution. … It is the enemy of July 4, 1776.”
Trump emphasized that communism “can be given no quarter” in America and that it “represents the worst ideas and abuses in history by the worst people.”
“The American founding represents the best ideas and traditions in history by the best people like you,” Trump continued. “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.”
He’s right. You cannot be both a patriot and a lover of America and freedom while also supporting communism, which is what makes the rise of socialists and communists across the country startling.
As explained by the History Channel, “Socialism and communism are essentially economic philosophies advocating public rather than private ownership, especially of the means of production, distribution and exchange of goods (that is, making money) in a society.” Karl Marx — history’s leading communist — was “one of the most influential socialist thinkers in history.”
“Marxists often refer to socialism as the first, necessary phase on the way from capitalism to communism. Marx and Engels themselves didn’t consistently or clearly differentiate communism from socialism, which helped ensure lasting confusion between the two terms,” the History Channel pointed out.
In other words, the rise of socialism is, at the very least, a precursor to the communist revolution. And despite communism having been responsible for the deaths, starvation, and poverty of millions globally, Americans hold increasingly favorable views of socialism.
The Heartland Institute and Rasmussen Reports found in a 2025 survey that 53 percent of likely voters aged 18 to 39 would like a Democratic Socialist (code for Marxist) to win the 2028 presidential election.
The growing acceptance is reflected not only in polling but in the election of communists across the country. Mamdani won the mayoral race last November despite having said in a 2021 speech for a Young Democratic Socialists of America conference that socialists believe in “seizing the means of production.” Karl Marx, co-author of The Communist Manifesto, also argued that workers should seize the means of production.
Darializa Avila Chevalier, a socialist candidate for Congress, previously advocated for “seiz[ing] the means of production” in a now-deleted Twitter account, CNN reported. Chevalier also complained that public libraries didn’t have “enough Marxist literature,” according to CNN.
Trump is right — if we are to ensure America sees another 250 years, then we must reclaim the moral clarity of our forefathers and say without apology that not every idea deserves a seat at the table and not every person is fit to be a citizen of our republic.
