US President Donald Trump on Saturday promised Military Academy graduates that he would cow enemies into diplomatic capitulation while refocusing the US military on protecting their country.
Speaking during a commencement address at the academy, Trump emphasized the need for adaptability, telling the 1,002 graduating cadets that they are “in a business profession where things change… rapidly,” and drew on Russia’s war in Ukraine as a case in point.
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“Unfortunately, we’re getting to see it with Russia and Ukraine, and we’re studying it – and it’s a very terrible thing to study, but we’re seeing the different forms of warfare,” Trump said.
He added, “We’re seeing the drones that are coming down at angles, with speed and with precision. We’ve never seen anything like it, and we’re learning from it.”
Trump went on to suggest that, for at least the past two decades, political leaders from both parties have dragged the US 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 case?’ 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,” Trump said. He went on to argue that the job of the US is “not to host drag shows or transform foreign countries, to spread democracy to everybody around the world at the point of a gun.”
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He then declared: “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.”
Trump told cadets that following his return from his Middle East tour last week, he was told the US “is hotter now than we’ve ever seen it, and a year ago it was as cold as it gets.”
While congratulating students who designed a hypersonic rocket, Trump said that Russia stole plans for a US-designed rocket under President Barack Obama. “We had ours stolen... during the Obama administration, they stole it. You know who stole it? The Russians stole it. Something bad happened,” he said.
Trump also railed against previous foreign policy initiatives, declaring an end to critical race theory, while vowing to promote a return to merit-based systems and traditional military values.
He announced a $1 trillion military buildup, and touted his plans for a Golden Dome missile defense system, saying the dome would be finished by the time he leaves office.
This was the second time Trump had spoken to graduates of the US Military Academy in upstate New York where the next generation of army leaders is educated. It offered the president a platform to stump for his defense policy.
On Friday, Vice President JD Vance told graduates at the US Naval Academy that they are embarking on a mission in a new and very dangerous era for the country, with threats from adversaries such as China and Russia, emphasizing a move away from prolonged military engagements with “open ended” missions.
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