Trump delivers commencement address at West Point

WATCH: President Trump West Point commencemnet address

President Donald Trump used his West Point commencement address to congratulate graduating cadets while crediting himself for rebuilding the U.S. military. Wearing a MAGA hat, he framed the military's mission in stark America First terms and claimed a political "mandate" from the 2024 election.

President Donald Trump delivered his first military commencement address since returning to office.

The president spoke to West Point’s graduating class on Saturday morning.

What did Trump say to West Point graduates? 

What they're saying:

"In a few moments, you’ll become graduates of the most elite and storied military academy in human history," Trump said at the ceremony at Michie Stadium. "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. 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 the U.S. is the "hottest country in the world," boasted of his administration's own achievements and underscored a distinct America First ethos for the U.S. military, which he called "the greatest fighting force in the history of the world."

President Donald Trump addresses graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point in Michie Stadium on May 24, 2025 in West Point, New York. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

"We’re getting rid of distractions and we’re focusing our military on its core mission: crushing America’s adversaries, killing America’s enemies and defending our great American flag like it has never been defended before," Trump said. He later said that "the job of the U.S. Armed Forces is not to host drag shows or transform foreign cultures," a reference to drag shows on military bases that former President Joe Biden's administration halted after Republican criticism.

Trump said the cadets were graduating at a "defining moment" in the Army's history, as he criticized past political leaders for leading soldiers into "nation-building crusades to nations that wanted nothing to do with us."

The backstory:

Trump gave the commencement address at West Point in 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The president urged the graduating cadets to "never forget" 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 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.