Trump hails Mount Rushmore presidents as ‘men of action and ambition’ in July Fourth speech

KEYSTONE, SOUTH DAKOTA: President Donald Trump stood at the foot of Mount Rushmore on the eve of the nation's 250th birthday to pay tribute to the four presidents carved into the South Dakota granite, calling them "men of action, men of ambition, men of daring, men of destiny" whose faces were placed on the mountain to remind Americans forever of who they are.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a massive sculpture carved into Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills region of South Dakota. Completed in 1941 under the direction of Gutzon Borglum and his son Lincoln, the sculpture's roughly 60-ft-high granite faces depict former US presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.

Donald Trump salutes former presidents

Trump turned to each of the four presidents individually, offering a tribute to the specific role he said each played in the nation's story.

Speaking as part of the America250 celebrations, Trump opened his remarks by framing the country's founding as a moment that reverberated across all of human history.

"250 years ago tomorrow, the words of our Declaration of Independence sent an earthquake through all of the coming time," he said. "They sparked a revolution that has never ended, but still continues to this day."

"We salute the father of our country, George Washington," Trump said. "The author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson. The great emancipator and savior of our union, Abraham Lincoln. And the man who built America into a global superpower, Theodore Roosevelt."

He framed their collective contribution as four distinct acts in the story of American liberty.

"These are the men who declared the freedom, won our freedom, saved our freedom, and secured our freedom," Trump said. "They were men of action, men of ambition, men of daring, men of destiny, and men of truly great intelligence. Above all, they were great men of history."

Donald Trump calls on America to be as 'big, bold and noble' as its founders

Standing at what he called a "beautiful mountain," Trump said the occasion of the 250th anniversary demanded not just celebration but rededication.

"Tonight, on the threshold of our 250th year, we stand beneath the monument of these heroes, a true group of unbelievable people," he said.

"And we rededicate ourselves to being a nation as big, bold, noble, and as great as these American giants. And that's not easy to do, but we're going to do it."

He said the four men immortalized on the mountain represent something permanent about the American spirit. "These men could only have been made in the USA," Trump said. "Their faces are engraved on these bluffs, not only because of what they did, but to remind us forever who we are. These heroes exemplify what is timeless, enduring, and eternal about the American character."

Trump closed the message by pointing to character itself as the thread running through American history. "In the end, it has always been that character, our distinct and unique identity," he added.