Trump makes bold Second Amendment claim: 'I saved it almost singlehandedly for 6 years'

MOUNT RUSHMORE, SD: President Donald Trump used his July 4 message to claim he had “almost singlehandedly” saved the Second Amendment for six years and vowed to keep defending Americans’ gun rights.

The declaration placed Trump at the center of the constitutional fight. He tied that claim directly to his broader message about freedom, independence, and rights that he said: “Shall not be infringed.”

Trump claims he saved the Second Amendment

“In America, we do not need anyone’s permission to say what we think, to live as we please, to worship as we choose, or to keep and bear arms,” Trump said in his Mount Rushmore speech on Friday, July 3.

He then made his sweeping claim about his own role in protecting gun rights.

“For 6 years, I have saved, almost singlehandedly, your Second Amendment — and I will continue to do so,” Trump said.

The president immediately framed those rights in religious terms, adding, “Our rights were given to us by the God who made us, and those rights shall not be infringed.”

As per the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, the Second Amendment states: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

Ratified on December 15, 1791, as part of the Bill of Rights, the amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms.

NRA states that the government cannot infringe on that right.

Meanwhile, Trump’s message went further than simply praising the amendment. By saying he had saved it “almost singlehandedly,” he cast himself as its personal defender and promised that role would continue.

Trump ties gun rights to American freedom

The Second Amendment claim came during a broader passage in which Trump described what he believes makes Americans “unique and extraordinary.”

“Above all, Americans love freedom,” Trump said. “We cherish independence, and know that we are the heirs to the most beautiful land, the most thrilling story, and the most precious legacy on which the sun has ever shined.”

He also connected his vision of American identity to self-reliance, ambition, and individual freedom.

“Americans believe in self-reliance,” Trump said. “We look at success not with envy, but with admiration — and we earn it.”

The president repeatedly returned to the idea of Americans as fighters who overcome challenges others consider impossible.

“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,” he said.

Trump vows rights shall not be infringed

He described the country as one that values “justice, fairness, family, honesty, and human dignity,” while saying citizens are “equal under the law, and equal in the eyes of the Lord.”

Trump closed that broader vision with another forceful declaration about how Americans respond to threats.

“An American always wants peace and order, but we will never shrink from danger or threat,” he said. “We fight, fight, fight, and we win, win, win.”

He also insisted that protecting the country’s identity was not limited to those born in the United States, saying, “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 added, “and we are not going to let anyone take it away.”