US President Donald Trump used the first military commencement address of his second term on Saturday to congratulate West Point cadets on their academic and physical accomplishments while veering sharply into politics, taking credit for America’s military might while boasting about the “mandate” he says he earned in the 2024 presidential election.
“In a few moments, you’ll become graduates of the most elite and storied military academy in human history,” Trump said at the ceremony at Michie Stadium.
“And you will become officers of the greatest and most powerful army the world has ever known. And I know, because I rebuilt that army, and I rebuilt the military. And we rebuilt it like nobody has ever rebuilt it before in my first term.”
Wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat, the Republican president told the 1,002 graduating cadets that the US is the “hottest country in the world”, boasted of his administration’s achievements and underscored a distinct America First ethos for the US military, which he called “the greatest fighting force in the history of the world”.
“We’re getting rid of distractions and we’re focusing our military on its core mission: crushing America’s adversaries, killing America’s enemies and defending our great American flag like it has never been defended before,” Trump said.
He later said that “the job of the US Armed Forces is not to host drag shows or transform foreign cultures”, a reference to drag shows on military bases that former US president Joe Biden’s administration halted after Republican criticism.
