He linked political opposition to immigration, targeting "newcomers to our country" and arguing that some arrivals "embrace ideas totally opposed to our way of life and our great success."
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Trump emphasized national loyalty as a requirement for residency.
"You do not have to be born here, but you do have to love what we have built, you must love our country," he declared.
He concluded by drawing a strict line: "You can be a communist or you can be a patriot.
You cannot be both."
The event location held personal significance for Trump, according to past statements recalled by political allies.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem previously noted that Trump expressed a "dream" to be added to the Mount Rushmore monument.
Noem recalled that she "started laughing" upon hearing the idea, but quickly realized he was "totally serious."
In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani offered a counter-narrative from City Hall, focusing on how diverse populations "made" the metropolis.
"Hundreds of thousands of Irish immigrants arrived with stomachs aching from a famine manufactured by imperial cruelty. Chinese sailors settled in what is today Chinatown.
Millions more travelled under the Statue of Liberty and through Ellis Island. Jewish people escaping pogroms, Italians fleeing poverty.
Syrians seeking economic opportunity," Mamdani said.
He emphasized that historical legislation did not deter the growth of the city's community.
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"Despite laws enacted by the federal government to bar their entry… immigrants made homes here in New York City, and they helped to make New York City," he added.
