Donald Trump declared that "every king and prime minister respects us" as he kicked off the 250th anniversary of US independence at Mount Rushmore.
Standing below the iconic American monument on the eve of July 4, the President delivered a near-half-hour-long speech decrying communism, praising the States, and hailing the spirit of independence and the accomplishments of the American people.
At one stage in his address, Mr Trump turned his fire on Joe Biden - and then, the kings and prime ministers who mocked the US.
"Two years ago, we were laughed at, mocked, and a nation in decline," he said. "We were in very serious decline.
"The last administration, what they've done to us - we can never, ever forget that.
"And today, we are the hottest country anywhere in the world. Everybody respects us, like no nation.
"Remember this: We're respected like no nation in the world is respected.
"Every king, every prime minister, every president - they respect us more than any other country, by far.
"Two years ago, they laughed at us. Now it's only respect... And I want to tell you, the best is yet to come."
Standing below the iconic American monument on the eve of July 4, the President delivered a near-half-hour-long speech for 'America 250'
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Elsewhere in his speech, Mr Trump turned his fire on communism - which he said poses a "mortal threat" to the US.
He said the ideology was "the exact opposite of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" - Thomas Jefferson's famous words in the Declaration of Independence.
"It's death, tyranny and the pursuit of evil," the President said.
But he went on to triumph the achievements of the US, declaring that in 250 years, the "free people of this land have accomplished more with our liberty than any other society has accomplished even in thousands and thousands of years".
"We are the nation that dreamed and created the modern world," he said.
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PICTURED: Marine One flies over Mount Rushmore before Donald Trump's America 250 address
|REUTERS
"Tomorrow, we reach a milestone like no other, and celebrate with joyful hearts and soaring spirits - because after two and a half centuries, we know that this is not an ending, this is only the beginning of the Golden Age of America."
And despite his shot at kings and prime ministers, the President found a moment to pay tribute to England.
"In America, we speak English, because that is the language of our founding," he said.
"For a thousand years, that has been the language of freedom."
That stood as a direct mirror to his words in front of King Charles III on his State Visit to the US earlier this year.
On the White House lawn in April, Mr Trump paid tribute to 'a small but mighty kingdom from across the sea' in front of the King
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On the White House lawn in April, Mr Trump said that "before we ever proclaimed our independence, Americans carried within us the rarest of gifts, moral courage, and it came from a small but mighty kingdom from across the sea".
"Here, on a wild and untamed continent, they set loose the ancient English love of liberty and Great Britain's distinctive sense of glory, destiny and pride," he said at the time.
"The American patriots who pledged their lives to independence in 1776 were the heirs to this majestic inheritance, their veins ran with Anglo-Saxon courage, their hearts beat with an English faith in standing firm for what is right, good and true."
Back in the present, Mr Trump also took a swipe at Iran's huge funeral parade for the Ayatollah, who was killed instantly in joint US-Israeli strikes on the first day of the war.
"They're dying to settle," he said. "They want to settle so badly. We gave him a week off for a funeral because we're nice."
The President is now returning to Washington DC, where he will oversee a day of anniversary celebrations
|REUTERS
The President is now returning to Washington DC, where he will oversee a day of anniversary celebrations.
But his claim to be the "hottest country anywhere in the world" looks to have rung true in an unwanted way.
Several of the July 4 celebrations have had to be scaled back amid fears temperatures will reach 40C.
The Washington Monument's opening has been pushed back by four hours, while the State Fair was closed until 5pm yesterday evening.
While the Independence Day Parade, slated to start on Saturday morning, has been cancelled altogether.
But what Mr Trump has billed as the "largest fireworks show in history" is still on.
Some 850,000 pyrotechnics are set to be lit over DC in a bid to break the world record for shells used in a fireworks show.
The record is currently held by a church in the Philippines, which used 810,904 fireworks.
Those are scheduled to begin at 3.30am BST after a "spectacular TRUMP RALLY".