Donald Trump hails West Point cadets and takes credit for US military might
US President Donald Trump used the first military commencement address of his second term to congratulate West Point cadets on their academic and physical accomplishments, while taking credit for America's military might.
'In a few moments, you'll become graduates of the most elite and storied military academy in human history,' Mr Trump said at the ceremony in New York on Saturday.
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'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.
Graduating cadet Chris Verdugo, left, is pictured on screen alongside President Donald Trump (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)
'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 'you came from excellence, you came for duty'.
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At one point Mr Trump summoned a cadet, Chris Verdugo, to the stage, noting that he completed an 18.5 mile march on a freezing night in January in just two hours and 30 minutes.
Just outside the campus, about three dozen demonstrators gathered before the ceremony and were waving miniature American flags.
One in the crowd carried a sign that said Support Our Veterans and Stop the Cuts, while others held up plastic buckets with the message Go Army Beat Fascism.
Mr Trump gave the commencement address at West Point in 2020, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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He had urged the graduating cadets to 'never forget' the soldiers who fought a war over slavery, in a speech which came as the nation was reckoning with its history on race after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Mr Trump also paid tribute to the military academy's history and its famed graduates, including Douglas MacArthur and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The ceremony five years ago drew scrutiny because the US Military Academy forced the graduating cadets, who had been at home because of Covid-19, to return to an area near a pandemic hot spot.
Mr Trump was in Alabama, earlier this month to speak to the University of Alabama's graduating class.
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His remarks mixed standard commencement fare and advice with political attacks against his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, musings about transgender athletes and lies about the 2020 election.
On Friday, vice president JD Vance spoke to the graduating class at the US Naval Academy in Maryland.
Mr Vance said that Mr Trump was working to ensure US soldiers are deployed with clear goals rather than the 'undefined missions' and 'open-ended conflicts' of the past.
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