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Donald Trump turned the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States into a political rally by declaring to tens of thousands of people gathered at the National Mall in Washington: "We don’t want communists in our country. It never worked and it never will."
The president delivered his speech on Saturday night with over an hour of delay due to a severe storm that forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of attendees from the National Mall, where temperatures had reached a historic record of 39.4 °C for July 4th, with 160 million Americans under extreme weather alerts.
The intervention, lasting about 40 minutes, was filled with anti-communist references that pointed directly to the midterm elections in November 2026, following the victories of progressive candidates in the Democratic primaries.
"Communism is a loser, and it always will be. The communist system is the opposite of the American system, and the communist system has never worked," he stated before the crowd.
"Our warriors did not fight against communism on battlefields around the world for that threat to rear its ugly head right here in the United States. It is like cancer. It must be excised. It must be excised quickly," he added.
The president also praised American exceptionalism with phrases that garnered applause: "For 250 years, the United States of America has been the hope, the promise, the light, and the glory among all the nations of the world. No one can be like us."
He also proclaimed that "the American dream is back" and that the country is experiencing "the dawn of the golden age".
Trump seized the opportunity to urge Congress to approve the SAVE America Act, which requires identification and proof of citizenship to vote and eliminates mail-in voting except for certain exceptions. The measure was passed by the House of Representatives in February but rejected by the Senate in March.
The president also boasted about the military interventions in Venezuela and Iran, claiming that the United States "overwhelmed" the Iranian armed forces and sank 159 ships from their navy.
He invited to the stage the astronauts of the Artemis II mission - which orbited the Moon in April 2026 - and veterans from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, including Captain Ken Schubbring, 104 years old and a survivor of Pearl Harbor, and Lieutenant Arthur Rose, 107 years old and a D-Day veteran.
The speech was the highlight of a patriotic weekend that Trump had kicked off the night before with an address at Mount Rushmore, where he described communism as "the greatest threat to our country, even more so than World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, or September 11."
After their intervention, more than 850,000 fireworks—double the usual amount at the National Mall—lit up the sky over Washington.
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