Trump invokes faith at Mount Rushmore speech as he says Americans 'kneeled only before Almighty God'

MOUNT RUSHMORE, SD: President Donald Trump declared in a July 4 message that Americans "did not bow before a king or a government" but "kneeled only before Almighty God" as the nation enters its 250th year.

Trump tied the country's founding directly to faith and patriotism. He also warned of an "undeniable attempt" in recent years to change what he called America's exceptional character.

Trump puts faith at heart of patriotism

Casting faith as central to the identity of the people who established the country, Trump said in his Mount Rushmore speech on Friday, July 3, "These were the people who founded our republic. These were the patriots who fought for independence."

He added: "This was the spirit that demanded freedom, and this was the culture that built America and carved its heroes into Mount Rushmore."

The president said generations of Americans once understood that patriotic duty meant preserving that culture and handing it down.

“For generations, it was understood that the core of patriotic duty of every American was to pass this culture on to our children, and to preserve the nation for centuries and centuries to come," he said.

He then sharpened the message by arguing that the country's character had come under pressure.

"But in recent years there's been an undeniable attempt to change this exceptional character, to beat the American spirit out of us, alienate us from our history, and to make it impossible to even answer the question, 'What does it mean to be an American?'" Trump said.

The president defines America entering 250th year

As the country moves into its 250th year, Trump said culture and freedom could not be separated.

"As we march into our 250th year, incredible, beautiful year it will be, we must never forget, there is no American freedom without American culture," he said.

Trump described that culture through a string of national traits.

“Americans honor excellence, we admire boldness, we respect ambition," he said. "We are a nation of dreamers and believers, warriors and explorers, doers and fighters."

He continued with a challenge-driven vision of American identity: "Show us a mountain, and we'll climb it. Show us an ocean, and we'll cross it. Show us a problem, and we'll conquer it."

Trump also placed equality under both law and religion at the center of his message.

"Unlike societies based on class, clan, or tribe, we see every citizen as an individual, equal under the law, and equal in the eyes of the Lord," he said.

Trump says Americans must love what was built

Trump's definition of national culture also included language, peace and a willingness to confront threats. "In America, we speak English, because that is the language of our Founding, and for a thousand years, that has been the language of Freedom," he said.

"An American always wants peace and order, but we will never shrink from danger or threat," Trump added. "We fight, fight, fight, and we win, win, win."

He closed that portion of his message by arguing that birthplace alone was not the test of belonging: "You do not have to be born here, but you do have to love what we have built here."

"There has never been anything like us anywhere on earth," Trump said, "and we are not going to let anyone take it away."