US President Donald Trump prepares to sign executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 23, 2025.
Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty Images
President Donald Trump touted his administration’s changes to the military during a commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Saturday that at times resembled a campaign-style speech.
“You are the first West Point graduates of the golden age of America,” Trump, wearing his trademark red, ‘Make America Great Again’ hat, said to the graduating class.
“This is the golden age, and you are going to lead the army to summits of greatness that has never reached before,” he added.
During remarks that spanned almost an hour, Trump promoted an “America First” worldview and he touted the strength of the U.S. military, which he claimed credit for bolstering.
He told the graduates they are becoming “officers in 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,” Trump said.
His remarks mixed elements of a traditional graduation speech, such as advice to the students, with aspects reminiscent of his 2024 campaign speeches, including criticisms of his predecessors.
Trump also used the remarks to highlight his administration’s achievements.
“The military’s job is to dominate any foe and annihilate any threat to America, anywhere, anytime and any place,” he said.
“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,” he continued.
He accused past administrations of sending some U.S. soldiers “on nation building crusades to nations that wanted nothing to do with us.”
Trump’s remarks come as his administration has zeroed in on military academies as part of its broader crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion programs (DEI) across the country.
He praised those efforts during his address. “We’ve liberated our troops from divisive and demeaning political trainings,” Trump said.
West Point eliminated a number of cultural clubs, such as the Asian-Pacific Forum Club, the Japanese Forum Club and the Latin Cultural Club, following Trump’s executive order removing DEI programs from the military, NBC News reported.
The Pentagon has also directed military academies, including West Point, to remove books that include mentions of racism or sexism from their libraries, according to the New York Times.