Trump Visits Mount Rushmore Ahead of America’s 250th Anniversary Celebration

President Donald Trump heads to Mount Rushmore on Friday, adding one of America’s most iconic landmarks to a week filled with patriotic celebrations ahead of the nation’s 250th birthday.

The South Dakota visit comes just one day before Trump’s headline Independence Day event on the National Mall, where he is expected to address thousands gathered in Washington before a massive fireworks display commemorating the country’s semiquincentennial.

The four presidents carved into Mount Rushmore, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, have long symbolized pivotal moments in American history. Trump’s visit continues a week centered on celebrating the nation’s founding and highlighting what the White House has framed as a renewed focus on American heritage.

The president arrives fresh off Wednesday’s dedication of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota, where he praised Roosevelt’s legacy while drawing comparisons between the two presidents’ leadership styles. Trump called the museum “fantastic” and joked that it even gave him “some good ideas” for his own future presidential library.

The trip also revives memories of Trump’s well-known admiration for Mount Rushmore. During his first term, he openly embraced the idea of one day joining the monument’s granite faces.

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Trump wrote in 2020 after reports surfaced that supporters had floated the idea.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the former North Dakota governor, is expected to accompany Trump during Friday’s visit as the administration continues its nationwide America 250 celebrations leading into Saturday’s flagship event.

More over at The New York Post:

Trump to visit Mount Rushmore to mark US 250th celebrations https://t.co/DwBHny3vwh pic.twitter.com/5EwpBjGLdC

— New York Post (@nypost) July 3, 2026