President Donald Trump was warmly welcomed to the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., on Saturday, where he gave a commencement speech to the graduating class of more than 1,000 cadets.
With a Trump speech, you never know what you are going to get, as his words tend to come from the heart and not exclusively from a teleprompter like many before him.
During his speech, Trump vowed that the United States armed forces would be refocused on protecting the homeland and pressuring enemies into diplomatic capitulation.
“You are winners, every single one of you,” the commander in chief said to the cadets, who are graduating to become second lieutenants in the Army. “You are the first West Point graduates of the Golden Age of America.”
Dressed in a suit and his signature red Make America Great Again hat, he took aim at his predecessors with a sharp critique.
“For at least two decades, political leaders from both parties have dragged our military into missions it was never meant to be [in]. People would say, ‘Why are we doing this? Why are we wasting our time, money, and souls in some cases?’” the president said.
“They sent our warriors on nation-building crusades to nations that wanted nothing to do with us, led by leaders who didn’t have a clue in distant lands while abusing our soldiers with absurd ideological experiments,” he said. “All of that is ended.”
“They subjected the armed forces to all manner of social projects and political causes while leaving our borders undefended and depleting our arsenals to fight other countries’ wars,” the president said.”
“But under the Trump administration, those days are over. We’re getting rid of the distractions and focusing our military on its core mission: crushing America’s adversaries, killing America’s enemies, and defending our great American flag,” the commander-in-chief said.
“The job of the US armed forces is not to host drag shows, to transform foreign cultures, or to spread democracy to everybody around the world at the point of a gun. The military’s job is to dominate any foe and annihilate any threat to America anywhere, anytime, and anyplace,” Trump continued.
“A big part of that job is to be respected again, and you are, as of right now, respected more than any army anywhere in the world,” the president said.
“My preference always will be to make peace and seek partnership, even with countries with which our differences may be profound,” he said.
“As much as you want to fight, I’d rather do it without having to fight. I’d rather just look at them and have them fold. And that’s happening,” Trump noted further.
The president promoted his plan for a “golden dome” missile defense system and said that the military would also be focused on protecting the nation’s borders.
“A central purpose of our military is to protect our own borders from invasion. Our country was invaded for the past four years,” said Trump.
He praised the cadets’ choice to serve their nation and said they were “among the most talented members of your generation.”
“Instead of sports teams, spreadsheets, and software, you chose a life of service,” he said. “I could not be more proud to serve you as your commander in chief.”
Trump also noted that when he was on his tour of the Middle East, he was told “the United States of America is hotter now than we’ve ever seen it, and a year ago it was as cold as it gets. And it’s true, we have the hottest country in the world, and the whole world is talking about it. I can’t wait to see the glory that is ahead.”
The president promised the cadets that they would “have victory after victory after victory, and that’s what you’re going to have as you receive your commissions.”