WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump is delivering his first military commencement address since returning to office.
The Republican president is set to speak to West Point鈥檚 graduating class on Saturday morning.
Trump gave the commencement address at West Point in 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The president to 鈥渘ever forget鈥� the soldiers who fought a war over slavery during his remarks, which came as the nation was reckoning with its history on race after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Trump also paid tribute to the military academy鈥檚 history and its famed graduates, including Douglas MacArthur and Dwight D. Eisenhower. The ceremony five years ago because the Military Academy forced the graduating cadets, who had been home because of COVID-19, to return to an area near a pandemic hot spot.
Trump traveled to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, earlier this month to speak to the University of Alabama鈥檚 graduating class. standard commencement fare and advice with political attacks against predecessor 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 U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. that Trump is working to ensure U.S. soldiers are deployed with clear goals rather than the 鈥渦ndefined missions鈥� and 鈥渙pen-ended conflicts鈥� of the past.
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Seung Min Kim (west Point, N.y.), The Associated Press
