Washington: President Donald Trump used the United States’ 250th Independence Day celebration to deliver one of his strongest denunciations of communism since returning to office, declaring that America would “never” become a communist country and portraying the ideology as a threat defeated by previous generations that must not be allowed to re-emerge.
Speaking before thousands gathered on the National Mall, Trump repeatedly contrasted America’s founding principles with communist systems, saying the nation’s history had been defined by the defence of liberty and individual freedom.
“Communists, they haven’t got a chance, not even a chance. We don’t want communists in our country, never. Never worked, and it never will work,” Trump said early in his address as he reflected on the victory of the American colonies in the Revolutionary War.
The President returned to the theme later while honouring veterans who served during the Cold War and the Korean War, arguing that Americans had sacrificed too much to allow communist ideas to gain influence at home.
“America will never be a communist country,” Trump declared. “Communism is a loser, and it always will be.”
Trump said American service members had confronted communist governments across the world and warned against what he described as efforts to revive the ideology domestically.
“Our warriors did not fight communism on battlefields across the world, only to have that menace rear its ugly head right back here in America,” he said.
“We’re not going to let it happen. We like to stop a threat like that immediately and before it begins. It’s like a cancer, you got to cut it out, you got to cut it out fast.”
The remarks echoed themes Trump had raised during an address at Mount Rushmore on Friday evening, where he also warned against what he characterised as ideological threats to American values.
Saturday’s speech linked that message to the nation’s 250-year history, with Trump arguing that the country’s founders established a republic based on liberty that remained incompatible with communist rule.
He praised the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution as the foundation of American freedoms, including freedom of speech, freedom of religion and the right to bear arms.
“Our founders not only won our liberty, they secured it with the most righteous political document ever conceived,” Trump said of the Constitution.
To reinforce his argument, Trump highlighted veterans from conflicts he described as battles against communist expansion.
Among those recognised were Marine Corporal Pat Finn and Private First Class Rudy Meekins, both veterans of the Korean War, and veteran Sonny Ray, whom Trump said had fought heroically against overwhelming enemy forces.
The President also displayed one of the last American flags flown at Checkpoint Charlie on the Berlin Wall, describing it as a symbol of the end of communist rule in Eastern Europe.
“The stars and stripes cast the hammer and sickle into oblivion before, and we will do it again if necessary,” he said, before adding that he did not believe it would be necessary because “people have learned.”
Throughout the address, Trump framed America’s 250th anniversary as an opportunity to reaffirm the country’s founding ideals.
He repeatedly described the United States as “the home of freedom” and “the land of liberty”, arguing that its history had been shaped by generations willing to defend those principles.
