Episode 4510: WarRoom Special: Live From West Point
Episode Stats
Length
2 hours and 30 minutes
Words per Minute
118.45348
Summary
Join us as we cover the graduation ceremony at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where President Donald J. Trump delivers an address to the West Point cadets. Special guest: Retired Marine Corps Command Chief Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Patrick K. O'Donnell.
Transcript
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this is the primal scream of a dying regime pray for our enemies because we're going medieval on
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these people here's not got a free shot all these networks lying about the people the people have
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had a belly full of it i know you don't like hearing that i know you try to do everything
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in the world to stop that but you're not going to stop it it's going to happen and where do people
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like that go to share the big line mega media i wish in my soul i wish that any of these people
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had a conscience ask yourself what is my task and what is my purpose if that answer is to save my
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country this country will be saved war room here's your host stephen k bann
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it's saturday 24 may in the year of our lord 2025 i want to thank real america's voice
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for expanded coverage here in the war room uh as we uh cover uh the graduation ceremony
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uh at the united states military academy at west point um the order of battle today is the cadets
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uh the graduating the first these should march in to mikey stadium that's the football stadium where
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graduation takes place the parents right now are filing in into the uh into the football stadium
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itself the cadets on the schedule marching at 9 30 eastern daylight time the president is supposed
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to uh come and address the cadets at 10 15 then hand out the diplomas uh we understand that may be
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slightly delayed but we've got a great crew here today uh steve gruber is with us at mikey stadium
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live with the real america uh voice crew i got patrick k o'donnell who we always do memorial day
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weekend saturday and monday with patrick k the best combat historian of his generation
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is with us in studio i want to go to steve gruber first steve uh you're there on the field at mikey
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stadium uh put us in the room tell us what's going on uh what's what's the feel there
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well the feel is the sun's breaking through steve and it's kind of a good feeling it's been kind of
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a cold blustery wet morning a lot of ponchos and umbrellas but they're going away as the sun's
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breaking through i think we're gonna have a nice afternoon here with donald trump coming like you
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said about 10 15 he could be running a few minutes late but it's a historic day it is together we thrive
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2025 is the uh theme of this class of the west point cadets graduating here today it is a historic
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day as you said because donald trump's back in the white house you've got pete hegseth rebuilding
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this military it's a new future for america and of course on this memorial day weekend we'll head
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off to arlington on monday but here today a celebration of some of america's finest young men
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and women graduating from west point to take up the american flag and take up the american cause if you
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will uh it feels good to be here steve to be honest with you the parents obviously if your
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child goes to west point you're proud uh it's an accomplishment for not just for the child but for
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the family you know that steve it's a remarkable accomplishment for the extended family especially
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if they're military families if they're generational if it's something that's been passed on from
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generation to generation this is a very meaningful and poignant day so look the sun's breaking out
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i think donald trump will be here to deliver an address in what should be pretty decent weather cool
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but hopefully not raining steve uh one one of the things of appointing hegseth who was a uh
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who is a combat uh a veteran and then taking the board and putting people like general flynn
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uh other uh graduates uh mo bannon uh general kellogg's i think general kellogg's daughter who's a
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graduate i think the class ahead of mo uh putting his whole emphasis number one was not just get the
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woken weaponized out of uh the pentagon and our and our troops in the field but as importantly get
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it out of these learning institutions of the naval academy the air force academy and particularly west
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point i think they've deemed that west point might have been the most woke of all of them uh do you
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think number one uh your observations on that and number two do you believe the president will
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address that specific topic today in his remarks i don't see how he could avoid that topic steve to be
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honest with you it's a team that brought him 77 and a half million votes to be quite honest look uh
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returning the military to its roots to its uh to its heritage to what it's supposed to be a fighting
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force not fighting for pronouns but fighting for america i don't see how you avoid that conversation i think
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it'll be mentioned here today and look it is a new day here at west point and all the military
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academies whether it's annapolis or or out in colorado doesn't matter it's a new day for
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the military and donald trump has set a new course with pete hegseth and look vice president vance a
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u.s military marine veteran you've got people here that are connected to the military in ways that we
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haven't seen in well a number of years even in trump's first administration he wasn't as focused on
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making sure america's military was the premier fighting force that it's always been but returning to that
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to that route and to make sure that we're fighting for proper education that america is the greatest
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nation on earth and returning to that theme and not the nonsense and the woke ideology i think he has
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to address it they're here today steve because it's it's a transition it's a transformation that
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will echo not just for 2025 but for years to come if it's implemented fully as they are trying to do as
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you know i mean pete hegseth and vice president vance and all the others that you mentioned uh general
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kellogg and all the rest of you mentioned uh working toward a better day for the american
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military plus the investments being made in the big beautiful bill we'll see how that plays out
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but obviously a huge investment in the u.s military and all of these things come together i'm going to
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guess he mentions that as well the biggest funding the united states military in history going forward
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and a return to all the things that have made america great building ships here building our machinery
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here building uh the things that make the military the strongest in the world coming back to american
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shores i think these are all themes that you'll hear today from president trump
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steve uh yesterday uh vice president jd vance was at the naval academy he gave the commencement address
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there uh and he said uh part of his talk his remarks was about america is no longer a hegemon that
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there's competing uh factions and competing interests and competing geopolitical powers at the same time
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yesterday at about uh four o'clock there was a notice that went out to the national security
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council that 100 of the detaillees these are the people from cia from the defense department from
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justice that are seconded to the national security council something that mike flynn and i have been
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fighting for a long time they were told you got 30 minutes to clear at your desk uh if you're not here
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uh we'll go clear it out for you and we'll ship it to anywhere that you you want it sent so 100
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of the deep staters were sent back to their were sent back to their uh per their their their points
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of origin how big a deal is that that today when president trump comes to the west point that we've
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actually had i think the biggest restructuring of the national security council since really
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kissinger and brzezinski took it from a relatively small uh operation to expanded uh in bush and clinton
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uh and uh in obama sir you know it was a remarkable announcement as you mentioned about four o'clock
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yesterday afternoon when we heard that look it is a um it is a purge of the people that are have been
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working behind the curtain if you will steve for all of these years and would have continued to do that
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regardless of administration regardless of who is in the oval office and worked maybe in their own
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interest or in the interest of not this country look as you look across the pond to the uk or france
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or any of these other countries that are supposed to be our allies in europe right now uh could could
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the uk fight any war at this point i mean are they capable it doesn't look that way to me france
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maybe germany questionable look we have to be what we are which is the most powerful military on earth
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because if we're not we don't have allies that were the way they were at the end of world war ii
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certainly not even the way they were 25 years ago and even when ronald reagan left office the fact of
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the matter is the united states military has to remain the strongest most prepared uh military
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institution in the world because we can't rely on our friends that have allowed themselves to become
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weak have not funded their militaries have not uh contributed to nato something donald trump has
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talked about a number of times and the way they're supposed to contribute their uh their percentages
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they've they sent us the bill over and over again and so you couple that with the announcement
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yesterday of getting rid of some of these folks that have been working behind the curtain we'll
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clear your desk out if you're not here you're clear your desk out and get out of here because we're
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done with people that aren't working every day to strengthen this military to defend this nation to
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carry us forward into the next generation and the generation after that i think all of these things
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come into play but look you know it as well as i do steve those european nations our nato allies
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are not the nations they used to be not when it comes to military fighting force
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i think we right now the camera's picking it up we've got uh some of the corps of cadets are are
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coming in actually to mikey stadium off to the side that's the cheering you heard let's go ahead and
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keep that uh let's keep the uh camera over there and let's go to uh our studio uh patrick k o'donnell
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patrick normally on uh on memorial day weekend uh particularly on the saturday we're doing the special
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about the the most sacred secular holiday that we have in the calendar which is uh our honored
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dead our cannot this is not a veterans day this is for those that gave the ultimate sacrifice
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put it in perspective of president trump actually going up and addressing uh this class is kind of
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unbroken chain since the academy was formed uh back i think in thomas jefferson's uh day as a
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military engineering school your thoughts sir the uh the greatest military academy in the world
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and the tradition in the chain as you mentioned continues uh this is uh you know fitting that
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it's a memorial day weekend it's so many of those cadets then go on to be the great battle commanders
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in american history um and many of them have given their ultimate you know full measure of devotion
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and it's uh memorial day weekend that we honor the the fallen which begins you know the tradition of
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memorial day begins with a civil war origin steve
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uh yes the the the the i think actually it was the uh the confederate widows the uh the people just
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the logistics to know to know today that the the first these will file in uh to uh will march into
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uh mikey stadium uh they will take their seats then uh the president uh will arrive he will give his
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comments uh as you know um patrick and steve they actually are graduate they graduate and get their
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diplomas as cadets that's the last official evolution they do as cadets at west point then they go
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uh do whatever administrative work they have to do and then change out of this last time they're in
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their cadet uniforms they change into their their military uniforms and then they're commissioned in
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much smaller ceremonies with their parents uh in someone who is very close to them at the academy
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or in their family they're commissioned as second lieutenant so today uh they start the day as firsties
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as cadets they graduate as cadets and then shortly thereafter they then do the commemoration
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of they actually get their uh they become second lieutenants in the united states army uh and that's
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a much smarter summer but a very uh historic day for the folks that uh in the families etc in fact
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many uh family members actually their active duty actually give the uh or or do the uh the
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swearing in as their and taking their oath uh to the constitution as uh as officers in the united states
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army uh patrick uh you're absolutely correct how historic this is and this is why i'm so proud
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that president trump determined to come to west point today because i think that this has been one
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of the most troubled institutions that kind of got the most off track in the last couple years
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of being uh quite frankly uh very woke uh as you know as a combat historian that doesn't really
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cut it when you're in combat right you want it you want to have a a level of excellence that has no
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uh does not have anything dealing dei or wokeness uh associated with it sir woke militaries don't win
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wars and uh when it just it it goes rings true with one of my uh favorite quotes from an oss operative
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from the brenner assignment howard chapel said nice guys don't win wars either and that's the truth
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it's about combat readiness it's about being prepared it's about training and it's about you
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know mental toughness and uh dei and uh critical race theory there's really no place for it in the
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u.s military yeah well today steve gruber is right it's been a long grind of four years it starts in
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beast barracks it actually starts i think the third week of june uh right after high school uh it's in a
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summer of called beast barracks the entire summer which was really their boot camp even before they
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become official cadets today you've seen the culmination of that and gruber's absolutely
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correct it is a celebration for the families and people could not be prouder that president trump is
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uh is taking time on his schedule today to come and address in a very historic moment the return of
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president trump as commander-in-chief particularly when he's being assaulted by all these uh this
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judicial insurrection that wants to challenge him as commander-in-chief real america's voice war room
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bonus coverage the uh firsties are about to march in we're probably 15 20 minutes away from that want
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short commercial break we'll return to west point the united states military academy in a moment
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welcome back uh you're saying right there mikey stadium that's a football stadium uh the um
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uh really uh you know legendary stadium at west point uh some of the great games and some of the
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great teams at west point have played there uh so you're not so mikey stadium down below that's kind
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of on a hill down below that is the uh barracks of the uh the cadets and the barracks are these
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magnificent stone um uh buildings it just looks like a medieval fortress sitting there on the uh
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on the hudson if you're on the other side of the hudson in fact roger ailes the great roger ailes
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at uh fox news had a house in garrison which was right across and if you ever went to roger's house
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and looked across it is like a massive fortress right there on the cliffs of the uh of the hudson
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uh patrick k o'donnell as you know west point has been a little controversial in the past it was very
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controversial even to start west point 1802 i think in jefferson's administration and the reason
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is that the united states particularly the revolutionary generation always had a concern
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about a standing army they were very concerned about like for instance the great military academy
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i think it's saint cyr in uh in france uh that had you know i think napoleon went there they also
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had they were very concerned about sandhurst and these in the academy in uh in the united kingdom in
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england because they didn't want a standing army they felt the continental army had
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had contributed with the militias to win the uh the revolutionary war but there was a real
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hesitancy and of course how the program was sold is that the nation was expanding i mean the the
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founders of our nation the revolutionary generation the first generation all the way through had a
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great vision of the united states as a continental power and to do that you had to bridge the rivers
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you had to create dams uh levies you had to you know help navigate the mississippi so it was pitched
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as a military engineering school in fact you would need this really an the army corps of engineers you
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would need engineers and in fact at first everyone at west point essentially majored in engineering
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and still if you go you have to if you don't major in engineering you gotta get a minor in engineering
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uh so uh talk to the formation of west point was quite controversial and jefferson was not a fan the
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only reason he i think acceded to it was things like the lewis and clark when they came back and
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talked about the rivers and what had to happen in the in this great expanse of the uh you know great
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expanse this thing passed in 1802 and i think he became more enthusiastic as he became convinced that
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the uh that the corps of cadets was going to turn out engineers that could actually help build the
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infrastructure that would build us into a continental power sir absolutely steve i mean
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the founders were steeped in the traditions of ancient rome and greece and they saw that you know
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the the possibility of a standing army being a real threat to the republic so they were constantly
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concerned about that but you know things in the wilderness change things especially in 1792 the
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battle of wabash where we had one of the greatest defeats in american history where an entire american
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army was wiped out it's called sinclair's defeats you know 99 of that army was wiped out and it was
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about logistics moving into the interior of the ohio territory and so we needed officers who were
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engineers but also trained officers and it's things like in events like sinclair's defeat feet uh you know
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native americans and also the rise of uh great britain and you know the war of 1812 is coming
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soon so we need to train military officers in west point you know is is it has its origins with all
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those things that are going on let's see if we can't pick up hang on for a second let's see can we pick
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up the sound it looks like the army band the historic army band's playing can we go ahead and pick up the
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sound let's go ahead and listen to this now the army band i'm listening to right now the army band is
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not made up of cadets the reason is that this band is called to perform uh and really has to um be able
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to execute for the uh you do have some cadets in there but the army band that play is mainly um uh
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actually regular army uh personnel because this keeps uh this is for all the praise all the passing
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reviews all of it is incredibly incredibly powerful so we'll dip in and out of this also patrick k
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o'donnell let's bring up the fact that uh there was a huge effort to actually shut down west point
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in the civil war it became pretty evident in the first couple of years of the war that the southern
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states had maybe been overrepresented in the uh in the population and that uh some of the great
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commanders particularly in the first couple of years when the union army was taken on the chin
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although mcclellan had gone there and some of his senior staff that people like uh you know robert
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e lee stonewall jackson um jeb stewart others uh in so many a second and third tier officers in the
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confederate army uh had actually gone to west point and uh you know it got to be a real controversy
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in congress was this a was this a hotbed of succession uh and i gotta tell you they had to
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go through a couple of years uh where they really were under uh the pressure because everybody they
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had a moment there what it when you know the state succeeded that they had the corps cadets and they
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said hey everybody that's uh gonna go south go south and it was a historic moment but it was a lot
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of controversy in west point uh sir absolutely some of the greatest commanders um in military history
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were southern southern battlefield commanders and they were well you know largely uh west point trained
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uh and as we saw on the battlefield during the you know the civil war the south was you know outgunned
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and outmanned but in many cases their leadership was superior um and many of those officers as you point
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out steve were were graduates of west point let's go ahead and play let's go ahead and pick up that
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music in the background right now the army band playing all the great uh military music that west
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points are better with um in fact uh jefferson davis was actually the secretary of war i think under
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president pierce in the mid 1850s and uh part of the deal with bringing in the state of texas into the
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union was as you remember patrick was to form a calvary regiment to fight the comanches that
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would be headquartered start in st louis be headquartered in san antonio texas uh that uh the um
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the uh the the selection of the officers except for general george thomas the rocket chickamauga who
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had gone also gone to west point and was a southerner from virginia uh i think he was the only senior
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officer in that legendary cavalry regiment that uh that fought for the for the the north um uh just
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uh absolutely incredible the quality of officers and of course people pointed when jefferson davis
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became president of the confederacy hey that did somehow rig the rig the game up there at west point
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because you had all these tremendous battlefield commanders that had gone to west point but right
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there you see in our split screen you've got uh that's the uh corps cadets in the stands that is
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not the graduates that's actually the corps itself uh that has uh come in the uh graduates will be uh
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will be right there where the white seats are let's go to steve gruber for a moment steve the stadium's
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about to is filling up we're a few minutes away from actually the firsties uh marching in and taking
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their place in in graduation uh give me give me a sense of things sir uh i'll tell you right now
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mr bannon uh we're getting the instructions right now the cadets are going to be let in from each side
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of the stadium some from the north some from the south and we're getting instructions right now that
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we'll be seeing those uh cadets the graduating cadets of 2025 coming in in just a few moments you
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know i can't help but reflect you know west point you guys were talking about the civil war and the
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history and the great southern commanders great uh a great history lesson there but really i go
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back to 1780 when benedict arnold was going to surrender this fort to the british in september of
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1780 and you reflect that with what's happened over the last four years with woke and dei and all this
00:25:19.860
other nonsense i find similarities there of surrendering this military academy and then being found out and
00:25:26.040
being caught and then being able to you know step back into it and say wait a second this is our academy
00:25:31.980
this is our west point this is our country this is our america and we're not going to give it up
00:25:36.420
uh benedict arnold you can't give it away and you can flee to the other side and be infamous for the
00:25:41.040
rest of your life that's kind of the way i feel about what happened here with dei and woke and all
00:25:44.580
the other policies that have been kicked to the curb uh just in the nick of time uh george washington
00:25:50.060
was able to catch benedict arnold and just in the nick of time donald trump was able to come here
00:25:54.320
and put the right people in place and return this military academy and the other military academies to
00:25:58.700
greatness gruber gruber went deep on that the dude i love that this is the reason a lot of people
00:26:05.600
don't understand west point is on the cliffs overlooking the hudson in fact this is where
00:26:09.240
the hudson comes down i think from poughkeepsie and it takes a huge bend right there this massive
00:26:14.780
river that the dutch and everyone when they first uh discovered the united states this river was
00:26:19.700
absolutely and the hudson was a uh actually such a lifeblood to the country this is where the
00:26:25.620
erie canal was cut up in albany that connected to the ohio territories that uh that patrick k o'donnell
00:26:31.920
was talking about but why is west point west point you actually nailed it that the general washington
00:26:37.120
during the revolution we needed to turn the militia into the continental army the first thing you had to
00:26:43.020
do was drill particularly as european armies fought under the horrific gunfire uh and volleys you
00:26:49.960
got you had to know how to stand you know you had to know how to stand and deliver that all came from
00:26:54.540
the beginning of the the the core the training of just marching and formations under uh there were
00:27:01.880
some uh mercenaries that had come over some officers come over from from poland and actually uh and
00:27:07.820
actually drilled the continental army right there in the plains the plains which hopefully we'll show
00:27:12.180
later steve is um is um uh the sacred space outside the barracks that only the cadets and the
00:27:20.920
military can stand on the civilians are not allowed to walk on that plains is where the continental or
00:27:25.880
the militia really was turned into an army the continental army under tremendous drilling uh i think
00:27:32.300
we're going to blow the break we're going to go we're going to take a short commercial break i think
00:27:35.940
we've got to blow this break because the cadets going to walk in uh gruber talk to me about west
00:27:40.380
point from the beginning it's really what formed the continental army that defeated the uh defeated the
00:27:45.920
british and that's why it's considered such a sacred space for the american military and for the
00:27:50.620
people in the republic it's been the cornerstone of the american military from the beginning like you
00:27:56.840
said this is where they turned the militia into the continental army and then you went through
00:28:00.160
uh obviously benedict arnold being uh caught and and found out and fled to the british army as a
00:28:06.640
major general had had fought with distinction in the revolutionary war as you pointed out then of course
00:28:11.120
you've got robert e lee was trained here so was ulysses s grant on opposite opposite ends of their
00:28:16.520
classes i might remind you i think robert e lee was first ulysses s grant was towards the bottom
00:28:20.920
of his class and yet as war goes you were still trained by the best in the world and then you move
00:28:25.880
on to world war ii go ahead hey gruber hang hey steve hang on one second we are going to take a break
00:28:31.480
here we're going to turn steve gruber at west point patrick k o'donnell in the house short commercial
00:28:37.240
break we'll return to the military academy in a moment
00:28:40.120
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the singing of the alma mater the administration of the oath of office to the graduating class
00:30:10.380
the singing of the army song and for the benediction after the class of 2025 marches into
00:30:16.860
mikey stadium you will hear the order sound attention marking the official start of the
00:30:23.040
graduation ceremony it is customary to rise at the bugle call of sound attention as well as for the
00:30:29.420
arrival of the official party and our guest speaker the 45th and 47th president of the united states of
00:30:36.080
america donald j trump after the official party has been announced and has arrived at the platform
00:30:44.300
please remain standing and render appropriate courtesies for honors to the president and for
00:30:49.680
the national anthem of the united states of america uniformed service members will salute military veterans
00:30:55.880
are encouraged to salute and civilians are asked to please show the same courtesy to our nation by
00:31:01.120
removing your hat and placing your right hand over your heart we encourage you to join in the singing of
00:31:07.000
our national anthem at its completion we ask that you remain standing for the invocation as a courtesy
00:31:13.200
please also rise when the president completes his address to the class of 2025 and remain standing for
00:31:19.500
the president's departure the secretary of the army will present diplomas to those cadets awarded summa cum
00:31:26.060
laude designation the class valedictorian the cadet first captain the class president and the army
00:31:32.460
athletic association trophy winners the remaining graduates will receive their diplomas alphabetically
00:31:38.380
by company cadets in the first and second regiments will be seated on the north side of the stadium
00:31:44.700
to your left cadets in the third and fourth regiments will be seated on the south side of the stadium
00:31:50.700
to your right after today's ceremony the class of 2025 will participate in the time-honored tradition of
00:31:58.140
the cadet hat toss once the distribution of diplomas to the graduating class begins those wishing to
00:32:03.900
participate in the hat toss may move to the screening point at the ramp located in the southwest corner of
00:32:09.260
the stadium only children may participate in this ceremony provided that they meet the following
00:32:15.340
criteria they must be four to ten years old between 42 inches and 54 inches tall and accompanied by a
00:32:23.340
parent or guardian who is 18 years or older all participants must enter the screening point to
00:32:29.260
participate in the hat toss the child must be accompanied from the initial screening point to the
00:32:34.460
completion of the hat toss parents or guardians and children may enter the stage
00:32:39.180
the staging area only after the child meets the criteria for participation parents must remain
00:32:44.460
on the field in appropriate staging area for their child to participate parents are not authorized
00:32:49.900
to collect a hat or accompany their child to the hat toss collection area participants will take
00:32:55.660
all directives from the officers non-commissioned officers event staff security personnel and cadets
00:33:01.260
directing the event children may only pick up one hat following the ceremony shuttle bus
00:33:07.500
transportation will be available from mikey stadium to all major parking lots the shuttle will run a
00:33:12.780
continuous loop to these stops until approximately 6 p.m for our ada guests and those with limited
00:33:20.220
mobility transportation is available at gate 7 outside the southwest corner of the stadium to f-lot be
00:33:27.740
courteous and cautious as you leave the stadium bar pending ceremonies begin at 2 p.m on the kids
00:33:33.020
uh that can be part of the hat toss the traditional hat toss uh steve gruber we're moments away from the uh
00:33:40.380
from the uh from the uh from the firsties marching in for both sides uh what do you got for us
00:33:47.100
what i've got for you i've got you sunshine mr bannon it's uh turned into a beautiful day it was it was
00:33:52.220
just a honestly a cold rainy kind of a lousy morning but it has turned into a sun-filled day
00:33:59.260
it kind of is the spirit of the day really we talked about you know the woke ideology the dei that
00:34:05.980
stuff's all uh making way for a new day in the military we talked about benedict arnold you know
00:34:12.300
george washington stopping him just in time and i think in in many respects donald trump's stopping
00:34:17.420
that nonsense just in time and returning this military to where it be is going to be which is
00:34:22.140
the preeminent military in the united states this is the preeminent military academy and i can tell
00:34:27.180
you the cadets are ready to come in now we've heard all of the um preparatory remarks and we're about
00:34:32.700
to see them and here they come here they come this is the graduating class of 2025 of the united states
00:34:41.660
military academy walking into mikey historic mikey stadium symbolically they come in from
00:34:50.140
part from the north and part from the south ladies and gentlemen please welcome the united states
01:05:53.680
standing for the invocation by the United States Military Academy chaplain, Colonel David Bolas.
01:06:04.720
I invite you to pray with me. Praise be to the Lord my rock, who trains my hands for war
01:06:12.480
and my fingers for battle. Almighty God, we are gathered here with hearts full of gratitude and
01:06:17.760
pride as we witness the graduation of the West Point class of 2025. We thank you for bringing
01:06:25.280
each graduate to this major milestone today. We thank you especially for your presence when
01:06:30.800
they were plebes under pressure, for providing patience as they learn to lead as yearlings,
01:06:37.600
for their commitment and courage to affirm as cows, and for faithful friends who will finish together
01:06:43.280
as firsties. And just as you have been faithful in the past, be their ever-present help in the future.
01:06:50.320
Thank you for the teammates around them, their family and friends, instructors and sponsors,
01:06:56.720
tax and trainers, mentors, and yes, even their tormentors, who stood with them over the last
01:07:03.680
four years. Through them you ensured these West Point graduates are prepared to lead
01:07:08.480
America's sons and daughters in peacetime and in war. Bless the ceremony today with your presence.
01:07:15.440
Bless our president as he leads and inspires us. And God bless the United States of America
01:07:44.080
Stop, read, cover. Take seats. Staff, dismissed.
01:08:01.200
Please welcome the 61st Superintendent of the United States Military Academy,
01:08:31.200
Mr. President, Congressman Womack, Congressman Ryan, Secretary Driscoll, General George,
01:08:41.600
our Chief of Staff in the Army, distinguished guests and alumni, teammates, family and friends,
01:08:49.040
ladies and gentlemen, good morning and welcome to West Point, home of the United States Military Academy.
01:09:01.200
We are tremendously honored to have you here today to celebrate the 1002 outstanding cadets of the
01:09:12.080
class of 2025 as they graduate and commission as the newest officers and leaders of character in your
01:09:20.240
United States Army. First, a very special welcome to the parents, grandparents, siblings, family and
01:09:28.400
friends of our graduates who are here today. Let's give them a round of applause.
01:09:39.840
Thank you all for the love and support and encouragement that you've given your cadet
01:09:44.480
along their journey at the United States Military Academy.
01:09:48.640
I'd like to acknowledge the members of the 50-year affiliate class for our graduating class,
01:09:57.920
Thank you all for supporting, mentoring and inspiring these new leaders over the past four years.
01:10:12.800
You are all wonderful exemplars of leadership, excellence and selfless service and we are grateful to you for
01:10:19.840
for demonstrating the strength of the Long Gray Line to this outstanding class.
01:10:25.600
Class of 2025, together we thrive. Congratulations and well done.
01:10:31.120
Today, your cadet experience at West Point may come to an end, but today really marks a milestone in your
01:10:47.360
personal journey as you assume the mantle of leadership as officers in our Army. We know you all are
01:10:54.560
looking forward to what's ahead. Travel, school, Bolick, Ranger School, Sapper School, moving,
01:11:01.680
living on your own. Some of you are getting married in like the next six hours. That's right.
01:11:09.120
However, for all of you, I just ask of you, take a moment, take a moment during the next few weeks
01:11:15.680
while you're enjoying some free time to reflect on your time here. Think about all the opportunities
01:11:20.960
and experiences that you've had and the challenges you've overcome on the road to becoming a leader
01:11:25.920
of character. Think about the hard work, some blood, a lot of sweat, as well as the grit, toughness,
01:11:33.520
determination and the continual pursuit of excellence. Think about the friends you've made and the
01:11:38.960
relationships developed, the camaraderie with teammates, the tax instructors, coaches and old grads
01:11:46.400
who've encouraged and mentored you, and the family and friends who supported you and cheered you on.
01:11:52.480
Take a moment to appreciate and thank all the people who've helped you get to this point,
01:11:56.720
and be grateful for all the experiences and opportunities that have helped shape you these
01:12:01.680
past four years. As you pursue this journey as a leader of character, remember today is about the
01:12:08.160
responsibility of service, service to our country and to the American people. Today is about challenging
01:12:14.720
yourself, challenging others to be better, better teammates, better officers, better leaders of
01:12:22.720
character. It starts with you each and every day. Today is also about the responsibility of leadership
01:12:31.120
as Army officers, your responsibility to support and defend the Constitution of the United States,
01:12:37.440
to be standard-bearers, to lead by example and embody what right looks like. Most importantly, today is about
01:12:47.440
your responsibility, your obligation to the citizens of our nation and to your soldiers, America's sons and
01:12:56.240
daughters, to give them your very best leadership every single day. Also, take a moment to reflect and
01:13:05.200
understand what it means to be a graduate of the United States Military Academy. People expect more from
01:13:11.520
you as a graduate of this institution. You represent this institution and you represent the United States
01:13:18.880
Army every single day. You now join a proud legacy of leaders of character who've committed themselves to
01:13:27.440
selfless service and continual excellence, guided by our Army values and the ideals of duty, honor, country.
01:13:37.680
Those ideals, they unify us and they define us. They define who you are as graduates of the United States
01:13:45.440
Military Academy. And just as they've inspired you, you will now in turn inspire future generations.
01:13:53.040
The Class of 2025, you are ready to face the challenges that await you, prepared to live honorably,
01:14:00.880
lead honorably, and demonstrate excellence in everything that you do. Congratulations and Godspeed to all of you.
01:14:09.120
Mr. President, on behalf of the team at the United States Military Academy, it is an honor to present this
01:14:15.760
outstanding class to you this morning as our nation's newest warfighters and leaders of character.
01:14:32.480
Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to introduce this morning's commencement speaker,
01:14:37.760
the 45th and 47th President of the United States, President Donald J. Trump.
01:14:55.200
Well, I want to thank you very much. This is a beautiful place. I've been here many times going to
01:15:12.960
high school, not so far away. Good, a good place. Also a military academy. Not quite of this distinction,
01:15:21.600
but it was a lot of fun for me. And I just want to say hello, cadets. And on behalf of
01:15:26.960
our entire nation, let me begin by saying congratulations to the West Point Class of 2025.
01:15:34.880
You are winners, every single one of you. Thank you.
01:15:37.760
And now we want you to relax. And I'm supposed to say at ease, but you're already at ease. You're at
01:15:51.040
ease because you've made a great choice in what you're doing. Your choices in life has been really
01:15:56.960
amazing. So this is a celebration and let's have a little fun. I want to thank your highly respected
01:16:03.840
superintendent, General Stephen Gillen. And he is really something. I got to know him backstage
01:16:09.920
with his beautiful family and his reputation. His wife is just incredible. His reputation is
01:16:16.480
unbelievable. And thank you very much. And your daughter is a winner also, just like everybody
01:16:29.920
I also want to thank your commandant, General R.J. Garcia, Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll,
01:16:38.240
Army Chief of Staff, General Randy George, Senator Ashley Moody, representatives Steve Womack,
01:16:47.200
Bill Heisinger, Pat Ryan, Mark Green, Keith Self, Acting U.S. Attorney Alina Haber,
01:16:55.040
and very much just all of the friends. We have a lot of friends in the audience today. And I just
01:17:00.800
want to thank them all for being here. We have a tremendous amount of my friends. They wanted to
01:17:04.720
come up and they wanted to watch this ceremony and they wanted to watch you much more so than me.
01:17:09.520
So I just want to thank so many people are here. Over the past four years, an extraordinary group of
01:17:14.880
professors, teachers, coaches, leaders and warriors have transformed this class of cadets into an
01:17:21.680
exceptional group of scholars and soldiers. And so let's give the entire group, the entire West Point
01:17:29.760
faculty, the staff for their incredible love of you and outstanding devotion to the Corps. Let's give them a
01:17:37.440
little hand. And importantly, we can't forget all of those people beaming with pride. Look at them in the
01:17:55.360
audience. So they're so proud. They're in the stands. So thank your parents, your grandparents and family
01:18:01.840
members who made this all possible for you. Thank you.
01:18:12.560
And I think they must have done something right based on what I'm looking at.
01:18:17.120
America loves our military moms and dads. Nearly one third of the cadets graduating today are
01:18:24.000
themselves the children of veterans. So to everyone with us this morning who served America in uniform,
01:18:31.600
no matter your age, please stand so we can salute your service. We'd like to see who you are.
01:19:21.960
You came for duty, you came to serve your country, and you came to show yourselves,
01:19:29.780
your family, and the world that you are among the smartest, toughest, strongest, built it
01:19:42.820
Your experience here at West Point has been anything but easy, but you do not come to
01:19:53.260
You came for excellence, you came for duty, you came to serve your country, and you came
01:19:57.880
to show yourselves, your family, and the world that you are among the smartest, toughest,
01:20:03.580
strongest, most lethal warriors ever to walk on this planet.
01:20:11.520
Looking out at all of you today, I can proudly say, mission accomplished, great job.
01:20:31.140
You have to forget that, because now you have another.
01:20:41.140
You take a little day off, and you go on to the rest, because you have to have victory
01:20:46.640
And that's what you're going to have as you receive your commissions as second lieutenants.
01:20:51.740
Each of you continues down the same hallowed path, walk by titans and legends of U.S. military
01:20:59.520
war, giants like Ulysses S. Grant, John Blackjack Pershing, Dwight David Eisenhower, the one and
01:21:09.140
only Douglas MacArthur, old blood and guts George Patton, and storming Norman Schwarzkopf.
01:21:29.080
They and countless other patriots before you have walked out of these halls and straight
01:21:34.820
And today, you officially joined those immortal heroes in a proud ranks of the Long Gray Line.
01:21:41.460
You know that term, so beautiful, the Long Gray Line.
01:21:49.140
Among the 1,000 cadets graduating today, 26 of you wear the prestigious star wreath, signifying
01:22:04.420
Let's see if somebody stands who shouldn't be standing.
01:22:25.100
This class includes an incredible four Rhodes Scholars.
01:22:42.060
That's tied for the most of any West Point class since 1959.
01:22:52.780
I don't want to have them go too far away from me.
01:22:56.740
Eight cadets here today took on the challenge of designing their own hypersonic rocket.
01:23:14.480
We had it stolen during the Obama administration.
01:23:24.740
But we're now, we're the designer of it, and we're now building them and lots of them.
01:23:30.740
And earlier this year, they launched it into space, setting a world record for amateur rocketry.
01:23:39.740
This class excelled not only mentally but also physically last January when more than 1,000 cadets volunteered for an 18-and-a-half-mile march on a freezing winter night.
01:23:51.740
Cadet Chris Verdugo completed the task in two hours and 30 minutes flat, smashing the international record for the competition by 13 minutes.
01:24:29.740
It's been a long five years, but I couldn't have done it with any of these guys.
01:25:00.620
That really is a definition of Army Strong, isn't it?
01:25:06.800
This class includes 513 graduates who completed Air Assault School, 70 who completed Airborne
01:25:15.800
School, eight who made it through the ultra-elite Army Diver School, among the most difficult
01:25:26.520
That includes the first two women in West Point history to complete Diver School, Cadets
01:26:03.280
Some of you achieved a different kind of distinction here at the Academy, including seven century
01:26:09.000
men who completed 100 hours of marching for disciplinary — oh, no — infractions.
01:26:52.220
But we want everyone to leave here today, Chris, so you're going to be okay, because
01:26:59.500
So in keeping with tradition, I hereby pardon all cadets on restriction for minor conduct
01:27:06.900
offenses effective immediately, so you're all okay.
01:27:21.280
The class of 2025 is a lot to be proud of, including your first-rate athletes and athletics.
01:27:36.180
Last year, for the first time ever, Army lacrosse became the number-one-ranked men's lacrosse
01:28:11.940
Your sophomore year, Army football beat Navy 2017.
01:28:17.860
And the next year, you did it again, beating Navy 17-11 and dominating Air Force 23-3.
01:28:28.280
But this year, the Black Knights fought your way into the top 20 nationally and racked up
01:28:36.760
your longest winning streak since 1949 with the help of graduating quarterback cadet Bryson
01:29:07.480
I heard, I heard he some, well, I came to a game and he was, I said, yeah, he can get
01:29:24.140
Go Army football, shout out the Hogs, age four.
01:29:58.840
Well, I just tapped his shoulders like I hit a piece of steel.
01:30:06.840
There's a reason, you know, there's always a reason for success.
01:30:11.840
At a time when other top college quarterbacks were thinking about going pro, Bryson's mind
01:30:21.840
As he told an interviewer earlier this year, I'm focused on my career as an infantry officer.
01:30:37.840
Each of you on the field today is among the most talented members of your generation.
01:30:50.840
This is one of the hardest schools to get into.
01:30:53.840
And writing your own ticket to top jobs on Wall Street or Silicon Valley wouldn't be bad.
01:31:03.840
Instead of sports teams and spreadsheets and software, you chose a life of service.
01:31:10.840
Very important service instead of stock options.
01:31:18.840
Honestly, compared to what you're doing, it's real boring.
01:31:24.840
And instead of business suits and dress shoes, you chose muddy boots and fatigues, keeping yourself in shape.
01:31:32.840
Because West Point cadets don't just have the brightest minds.
01:31:36.840
You also have the bravest hearts and the noblest souls.
01:31:41.840
I could not be more proud to serve you as your commander in chief.
01:31:59.840
And I was at, as you know, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE.
01:32:05.840
And I will tell you, they said, all three leaders, great leaders of those three nations, they all said the same thing.
01:32:14.840
The United States of America is hotter now than we've ever seen it.
01:32:24.840
We have the hottest country in the world and the whole world is talking about it.
01:32:32.840
I cannot wait to see the glory that is still ahead, however, for the West Point class of 2025.
01:32:40.840
And we're going to help you a lot because we're going to give you a nation as good or better than it ever was.
01:32:50.840
All the victories that you've had together on these grounds will soon pale in comparison to the momentous deeds that you'll perform on the mission you're accepting today.
01:33:12.840
We have ordered, you know, we just want $1 trillion military budget, General.
01:33:41.840
It makes you have to go back and learn a whole new form of warfare.
01:33:46.840
And you're going to do it better than anybody else.
01:33:48.840
There won't be anybody close generation after generation.
01:33:51.840
The men and women of the army have done whatever it takes to defend our flag,
01:33:56.840
pouring out their blood onto the fields of battle all over the world.
01:34:00.840
And all over the world, you're respected like nobody is respected.
01:34:05.840
Our soldiers have sprinted through storms of bullets, clouds of shrapnel, slog through miles of dirt and oceans of sand, scale towering cliffs of jagged rock.
01:34:17.840
And time and time again, the American soldiers charged into the fires of hell and sent the devil racing in full retreat.
01:34:32.840
No task has ever been too tough for America's army.
01:34:37.840
And now that 250 year legacy of glory and triumph belongs to you.
01:34:43.840
The 1000 newest offices of the greatest fighting force in the history of the world.
01:34:53.840
You are the first West Point graduates of the golden age of America.
01:35:07.840
And you are going to lead the army to summits of greatness that has never reached before.
01:35:18.840
Each of you is entering the officer corps at a defining moment in the army's history.
01:35:25.840
For at least two decades, political leaders from both parties have dragged our military into missions.
01:35:42.840
In some case, they sent our warriors on nation building crusades to nations that wanted nothing to do with us.
01:35:56.840
They are not allowed to think about it anymore.
01:36:09.840
They subjected the armed forces to all manner of social projects and political causes.
01:36:17.840
while leaving our borders undefended and depleting our arsenals to fight other countries' wars.
01:36:24.840
We fought for other countries' borders, but we didn't fight for our own border.
01:36:28.840
But now we do, like we have never fought before, by the way.
01:36:35.840
But under the Trump administration, those days are over.
01:36:39.840
We're getting rid of the distractions, and we're focusing our military on its core mission,
01:36:45.840
crushing America's adversaries, killing America's enemies,
01:36:50.840
and defending our great American flag like it has never been defended before.
01:37:03.840
The job of the U.S. Armed Forces is not to host drag shows to transform foreign cultures,
01:37:12.840
or to spread democracy to everybody around the world at the point of a gun.
01:37:19.840
The military's job is to dominate any foe and annihilate any threat to America anywhere, anytime, and any place.
01:37:27.840
A big part of that job is to be respected again.
01:37:39.840
And you are, as of right now, respected more than any army anywhere in the world.
01:37:45.840
And I can tell you, you are respected like nobody can believe.
01:37:50.840
As president, I am laser-focused on our core national interests.
01:37:56.840
My preference will always be to make peace and to seek partnership,
01:38:01.840
even with countries where our differences may be profound.
01:38:05.840
As you know, we're working on a lot of things right now.
01:38:08.840
When I left office four years ago, we had no wars.
01:38:18.840
The greatest, single greatest economy for a president in history.
01:38:23.840
I think we're going to beat it this time by a lot, if you want to know the truth.
01:38:30.840
But if the United States or its allies are ever threatened or attacked,
01:38:34.840
the army will obliterate our opponents with overwhelming strength and devastating force.
01:38:40.840
That's why my administration has begun a colossal buildup of the United States Armed Forces.
01:39:03.840
Because as much as you want to fight, I'd rather do it without having to fight.
01:39:08.840
I just want to look at them and have them fold.
01:39:25.840
And that will be, again, the largest ever in the history of our country.
01:39:45.840
You mean if we shape a wing this way they don't see it?
01:40:04.840
We had a lot of people that didn't know much about getting things built.
01:40:15.840
And earlier this week, I think you'll like this.
01:40:19.840
I announced that we are officially building all in America.
01:40:26.840
Because we're the only ones with the great technology.
01:40:29.840
We're building the Golden Dome Missile Defense Shield to protect our homeland.
01:40:38.840
And it will be completed before I leave office.
01:40:41.840
And, you know, you wouldn't think this, but our enemies are very unhappy about it.
01:40:56.840
Well, we're doing it because we want to be around for a long time.
01:41:01.840
We're also restoring the fundamental principle that a central purpose of our military is to
01:41:11.840
Our country was invaded for the last four years.
01:41:14.840
And they've allowed people to come into our country that shouldn't be.
01:41:30.840
They were taking them mentally insane and allowing them to come in.
01:41:37.840
We're getting them out and bringing them back where they came from.
01:41:47.840
But hopefully the courts will allow us to continue.
01:41:53.840
You know, we had the greatest election victory.
01:42:16.840
And it gives us the right to do what we want to do to make our country great again.
01:42:22.840
And on day one, I deployed our military to the southern border.
01:42:26.840
And since that day, we've reduced the number of illegal border crossings where there used
01:42:31.840
to be hundreds of thousands of people coming into our country a day.
01:42:37.840
We had nobody come in in the last week and a half.
01:43:03.840
We brought him through to have him brought to a hospital.
01:43:07.840
And for that, please don't hold me responsible, but that's okay.
01:43:13.840
Gone are the days where defending every nation but our own was the primary thought.
01:43:28.840
And very shortly, you're going to see a nation better than it's ever been.
01:43:36.840
For years, we've been ripped off by every nation in the world on trade.
01:43:43.840
We've been ripped off like no country has ever been ripped off, but they don't rip us
01:43:55.840
I know it's not your primary thing, but it's quite important in all fairness.
01:44:02.840
I've been reading about it over the last few days.
01:44:04.840
We're making deals with other nations that were not even, nobody thought it would be even
01:44:18.840
And everything we do, we are bringing common sense back to America.
01:44:28.840
They don't like using the word liberal anymore.
01:44:33.840
But whatever you are, you know, most importantly, you have to have common sense because most of
01:44:41.840
Most of it's about common sense when you get right down to it.
01:44:44.840
And we have a lot of people with a lot of, a lot of very smart people.
01:44:51.840
And we've liberated our troops from divisive and demeaning political trainings.
01:44:57.840
There will be no more critical race theory or transgender for everybody forced onto our
01:45:02.840
brave men and women in uniform or on anybody else, for that matter, in this country.
01:45:07.840
And we will not have men playing in women's sports, if that's okay.
01:45:24.840
I mean, I wouldn't want to have to tackle, as an example, Bryson as a man.
01:45:29.840
But I don't think a lot of women want to tackle him.
01:45:47.840
And promotions and appointments will not be based on politics or identity.
01:45:53.840
We won that case in the Supreme Court of the United States.
01:46:04.840
Today, morale in the armed forces is soaring to the highest levels in many decades.
01:46:11.840
After years of recruiting shortfalls, we had years and years of recruiting shortfalls.
01:46:18.840
And just last year was the worst of all, the last year of the Biden administration.
01:46:29.840
We couldn't get anybody to join our police or firefighters.
01:46:35.840
And right now, just less than a year later, we just set a brand new peacetime recruiting record.
01:46:50.840
There's somebody going to try and take your job.
01:46:54.840
We are brimming with confidence, and we're brimming with people.
01:46:57.840
We had the most best recruiting month that we've had in memory.
01:47:11.840
And now everybody wants to be doing what you're doing.
01:47:18.840
And I'm pleased to report that by next week, the Army is expected to surpass its recruiting
01:47:24.840
targets for the entire year, something that hasn't happened in 28 years where we've had
01:47:32.840
And it's nice to know that you're doing something that everybody wants to do.
01:47:44.840
During the campaign, I was hearing that you couldn't get people to enlist, but now we're
01:47:49.840
And it's sad because we're telling so many people, I'm sorry we can't do it.
01:47:53.840
My administration is doing everything possible to forge the most powerful military ever built.
01:48:00.840
But ultimately, the task of keeping America strong and safe in the years ahead is going
01:48:08.840
Among you are the lieutenants, majors, colonels, and generals who lead the Army for the next
01:48:16.840
So as commander in chief, let me offer a few words of advice as you begin your Army careers.
01:48:23.840
And I thought I'd do this and I can make this to a civilian audience or to a military audience.
01:48:31.840
And I did this recently at Ohio State and they really liked it.
01:48:38.840
I gave them a little advice as to what I see for what you want to do and some tips.
01:48:44.840
And first of all, and you've already done it, different from civilians.
01:48:57.840
If you don't love it, you'll never be successful at it.
01:49:00.840
And you've done this and you really, many of you in the audience, many of you that are
01:49:06.840
graduating, you come from military backgrounds or you love the military.
01:49:13.840
One thing I see about people that love the military, that's all they want to talk about.
01:49:18.840
I'll be out to dinner and generals, if they love their job, usually the only good ones
01:49:25.840
are the ones that want to talk about it all the time.
01:49:27.840
But if they talk, that's what they want to talk about.
01:49:30.840
I rarely, really, very rarely see somebody who's successful that doesn't love what he or
01:49:45.840
You're going to love it more and more with time.
01:49:49.840
That's all I do is I work, whether it's politically or before that.
01:49:54.840
I was a very good businessman, in case you haven't heard.
01:50:21.840
I've seen other people that never work and they're not happy.
01:50:29.840
In the Army, there are a lot of different paths you can take.
01:50:32.840
So follow your instincts and make sure that you take the path that you love.
01:50:36.840
That you're doing something that you love within your military.
01:50:39.840
You will be happier and the Army will be far stronger for it.
01:50:48.840
If you're going to do something, you might as well think big.
01:50:52.840
Because it's just as tough and sometimes it's a lot easier thinking big
01:51:00.840
One of your greatest graduates, General Eisenhower, used to say,
01:51:05.840
whenever I run into a problem that I can't solve,
01:51:09.840
I always like to make it bigger to solve it and solve more of it.
01:51:14.840
If you're going to solve a problem, it might as well be a big problem
01:51:18.840
as opposed to a small problem that lots of people can take advantage of and solve.
01:51:36.840
But to be really successful, you're always going to have to work hard.
01:51:41.840
An example is a great athlete, Gary Player, great golfer.
01:51:45.840
He wasn't as big as the other men that were playing against him.
01:51:55.840
He gets a little angry at people because he hits the ball just as far.
01:52:27.840
But he made a statement years ago and I heard it.
01:52:32.840
I think I've heard it a couple of times since, but he was the first.
01:52:46.840
And the harder you work, the luckier you're going to get.
01:52:57.840
I tell the story sometimes about a man who was a great, great real estate man.
01:53:03.840
It was a man who was admired for real estate all over the world, actually.
01:53:31.840
You see him all over the country still, Levittowns.
01:53:36.840
But he was the first of the really, really big home builders.
01:53:49.840
He was offered a lot of money by a big conglomerate, Gulf and Western.
01:54:21.840
And that doesn't work out too well, I must tell you.
01:54:27.840
But it made him happy for a little while, at least.
01:54:33.840
He sold his little boat and he got a big yacht.
01:54:35.840
He had one of the biggest yachts anywhere in the world.
01:54:38.840
He moved for a time to Monte Carlo and he led the good life.
01:54:46.840
And 15 years later, the company that he sold to called him.
01:54:54.840
And they said, the housing business is not for us.
01:54:58.840
You have to understand, when Bill Levitt was hot, when he had momentum, he'd go to the job sites every night.
01:55:10.840
If there was a bolt or a screw laying in the ground, he'd pick it up and he'd use it the next day in putting together a house.
01:55:21.840
And they called and they said, this isn't for us.
01:55:48.840
And I was sitting at a party on Fifth Avenue one night, long time ago.
01:55:54.840
And you had the biggest people in New York, the biggest people in the country, all in that party.
01:55:59.840
And they were all saluting each other, how great they were.
01:56:01.840
They were all telling each other, I'm greater than you.
01:56:05.840
Gets to be really, gives you a headache sometimes.
01:56:09.840
But they had all these people, they're telling their own stories about how fantastic.
01:56:17.840
I was, I don't know, I was invited to the party.
01:56:25.840
And I looked over and at the party, sitting in a corner all by himself, nobody was talking
01:56:38.840
And I went over and talked to him because he was in the real estate business and I loved
01:56:56.840
It's really not going well, as you've probably read.
01:57:21.840
And you have to know when you have the momentum.
01:57:24.840
But sometimes you have to also know when you've lost the momentum.
01:57:29.840
And leaving a field sometimes, leaving what you're doing sometimes is okay.
01:57:36.840
But you have to know if that momentum's gone, you have to know when to say, it's time to
01:57:44.840
I remember that story so well, like it was yesterday.
01:57:47.840
Fifth, you have to have the courage to take risks and to do things differently.
01:57:52.840
Eisenhower, again, was threatened with court marshals as a young officer for advocating
01:58:01.840
Billy Mitchell was thrown out of the army for pioneering the use of air power.
01:58:09.840
People willing to try and do things differently.
01:58:13.840
It's never going to be easy for them, but they're the ones that are going to really do
01:58:19.840
They're the ones who are going to make history.
01:58:27.840
And we do not need an officer corps of careerists and yes men and people that want to keep it
01:58:33.840
going the way it's been because it changes rapidly, especially what you're doing.
01:58:38.840
Because believe it or not, you're in a business and profession where things change as rapidly
01:58:48.840
Unfortunately, we're getting to see it with Russia and Ukraine and we're studying it and
01:58:57.840
But we're seeing the different forms of warfare.
01:58:59.840
We're seeing the drones that are coming down at angles and with speed and with precision.
01:59:08.840
We've never seen anything like it and we're learning from it.
01:59:15.840
You've got to keep you've got to be at the top of it.
01:59:18.840
You've got to be right at the at the head of the needle.
01:59:21.840
We need patriots with guts and vision and backbone who take personal risks to ensure that America
01:59:36.840
And the general that did it, you know, that story was named Raisin Cain.
01:59:42.840
His name is Dan Cain, but his nickname was Raisin Cain.
01:59:58.840
And he is now the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
02:00:09.840
Sir, it will take four years to defeat them, maybe five.
02:00:13.840
And maybe we won't because they're all over the place.
02:00:16.840
And then I met a man that said, we can do it in three weeks.
02:00:21.840
And that's why he's the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff right now.
02:00:25.840
And we did things that nobody thought were possible.
02:00:31.840
When you have the right leader and you have the right people,
02:00:33.840
and we have the right people, you're going to have tremendous success.
02:00:38.840
Sixth, never lose your faith in America and the American people
02:00:42.840
because they're always going to be there for you.
02:00:44.840
I went through a very tough time with some very radicalized, sick people.
02:00:50.840
And I say I was investigated more than the great, late Alphonse Capone.
02:01:00.840
I went through more investigations than Alphonse Capone.
02:01:28.840
Finally, hold on to your culture and your traditions
02:01:31.840
because that's what makes something really great.
02:01:39.840
Whether we're talking about a battalion, a business,
02:01:45.840
history has shown that in many ways culture is destiny.
02:01:49.840
So do not let anyone destroy the culture of winning.
02:02:07.840
this supreme tradition of American military service
02:02:31.840
Ricky's great-grandfather served in World War I.
02:02:46.840
In 2004, when Ricky was just a little, little tiny boy.
02:03:02.840
made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation in Afghanistan.
02:03:06.840
Today, Lieutenant Colonel McMahon rests not far from here,
02:03:14.840
Last year, two decades after losing his father,
02:03:17.840
Ricky placed a gold chip from his dad's 1985 class ring
02:03:23.840
into a crucible along 87 other rings were with it of past West Point grads
02:03:33.840
that were melted down to forge those now worn by the class of 2025.
02:03:46.840
Each of you will carry Michael's memory with you always as you continue the legacy he gave you.
02:03:57.840
He is proud as he looks down to Ricky and his mom, Jeanette.
02:04:13.840
And he's a man that couldn't be, and he is a man that couldn't be more proud.
02:04:18.840
And I want to just, I just love that story and everybody's ring.
02:04:25.840
And most importantly, you're going to remember a great tradition.
02:04:29.840
It's a great tradition of West Point and of winners.
02:05:32.840
For two and a half centuries, our republic has endured because of heroes like Michael.
02:05:46.840
And because young people like all of you have picked up the banner of service and carried forward the flag of freedom from Lexington to Yorktown.
02:05:59.840
From Gettysburg to Sicily and from Incheon to Fallujah, America has been won and saved by an unbroken chain of soldiers and patriots who ran to the sound of the guns, leapt into the maw of battle, and charged into the crucible of fire to seize the crown of victory.
02:06:24.840
No matter the odds, no matter the cost, no matter the danger, all over the world, our soldiers have made sacred the ground where they shed their blood and showed their valor.
02:06:39.840
From Seminary Ridge to San Juan Hill, Bella Wood, Omaha Beach, Leyte Gulf, Arden Forest, Chosen Reservoir, all over, and even a place called Porkchop Hill.
02:06:56.840
And in all of those battles and so many more, some of the best, brightest, and bravest have come from right here at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, one of the great fabled places anywhere in the world.
02:07:12.940
America's army has never failed us, and with leaders like the West Point, class of 2025, the army will never fail.
02:07:25.940
And over the last week, I had the honor of speaking to the heads of many countries, and they would say, two weeks ago, they say the eighth.
02:07:47.240
They said, sir, we're celebrating the victory today of World War II.
02:08:01.460
Sir, we're celebrating the victory of World War II.
02:08:05.920
Then I called up President of France on something also unrelated.
02:08:11.220
He said, sir, we're celebrating our victory over World War II.
02:08:26.060
Russia, I talked to Putin about ending that terrible war that's going on, and he said they're having a big victory march, and they did lose, in all fairness, 51 million people.
02:08:41.520
The only country that wasn't celebrating was the United States of America.
02:08:48.400
We were the ones that won the war, and we were helped.
02:08:54.960
But we were helped by some of the nations, and we were strongly helped by a couple of them.
02:09:05.040
They called it Victory Day in Europe, Victory Day all over.
02:09:14.940
And so I named that special day and another special day from now on as a holiday, but a holiday where we work.
02:09:25.840
We're going to be having so many holidays, we're not going to be able to work anymore.
02:09:30.540
But I named it for World War II and a separate day in November, as you know, for World War I.
02:09:38.620
I said, you know, all of these countries that participated in the war are celebrating, but the greatest country of them all, and the country that won the war, nobody even talked about.
02:09:52.060
And so we're going to be talking about it, too, from now on, and I think you'll appreciate it.
02:10:06.120
You won two world wars and plenty of other things.
02:10:18.540
We won the Second World War right here from West Point.
02:10:26.580
And in some cases, as you know, they didn't do too much to help.
02:10:35.220
No, we're going to celebrate victory because we're the ones that won that war.
02:10:39.720
Standing before you today, I know that you will never stop.
02:10:55.140
That's another little factor I could have added.
02:11:09.680
Because you'll go through things that will be bad.
02:11:24.180
And you will fight, fight, fight, and win, win, win.
02:11:37.260
I'm going back now to deal with Russia, to deal with China.
02:12:33.560
please remain standing for the presentation of the class gift.
02:12:40.240
will present a panoramic photo of the class of 2025 to the president.
02:12:45.020
President Trump, on behalf of the class of 2025,
02:12:50.340
I would like to present you with this class photo
02:12:53.480
as a token of appreciation for your inspiring words today.
02:13:33.660
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02:13:41.180
Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the departure of the president.
02:15:48.180
I think that's honoring the president as he exits.
02:16:01.740
Please remain standing for the singing of The Corps.
02:16:09.920
A cherished West Point song, the Corps became a West Point tradition at the baccalaureate service for the class of 1911 and first sung at graduation in 1962.
02:17:23.700
Praise being attention, while we wait for their passing TREN.
02:17:38.700
We follow close order behind you, where you have wanted the way.
02:17:48.700
The gray light of our stretches through the years of a century told.
02:17:55.640
And the last one feels to the marrow the grip of your far-off hold.
02:18:09.120
Grip hands with us now, though we see not. Grip hands with the strength in our hearts as a long line stiffens and straightens with the thrill that your presence imparts.
02:18:29.000
Grip hands, though it be from the shadows, I'll be swayed to the world of yore.
02:18:39.000
For living or dying to honor the core, and the core, and the core.
02:19:27.000
Ladies and gentlemen, the Dean of the Academic Board, Brigadier General Shane R. Reeves.
02:19:40.000
Class of 2025, your education has prepared you to be a leader of character, sworn to uphold the values embodied in our Constitution.
02:19:49.000
So, on behalf of the Academic Board, I present these graduates and recommend each as worthy of the Bachelor of Science degree.
02:19:56.000
The Secretary of the Army will present diplomas to those cadets awarded Summa Cum Laude designation, Class Valid Victorian, Cadet First Captain, Class President, and the Army Athletic Association Trophy winners.
02:20:09.000
Will the members of the Class of 2025 now come forward to receive their diplomas? Congratulations.
02:20:36.000
as uh let's um okay let's keep the shot right there as the uh as the top graduates come to get
02:20:55.680
their uh diplomas is steve gruber steve uh can i get your uh your thoughts on president trump i
02:21:02.420
thought it was pretty historic uh commencement address talked about a lot of geopolitical
02:21:07.740
um uh things going on a lot of issues related to national security but really
02:21:14.960
talked about the predicate for a new golden age is uh our young people like you see you're
02:21:22.680
so don't have uh no gruber okay let's get that in a second we get him up um do i have patrick
02:21:37.580
o'donnell patrick k in the studio any thoughts on president trump's uh pretty historic
02:21:42.340
prehistoric very historic speech on his gruber up let's and he brought up a lot of really key points
02:21:49.140
that you know the the era of crt is gone and the the importance of being flexible and how the
02:21:56.060
battlefield is constantly changing and how this new generation is up for the task um you know you
02:22:02.420
mentioned a couple really you know powerful the things that i pulled out of it culture is destiny
02:22:08.300
that really you know kind of rang true i thought um in the emphasis on winning and i think that's
02:22:17.320
a really important point that you know many you know prior administrations hasn't been a focus
02:22:23.980
and he's brought that back into focus and also the common sense and how a lot of people don't have it
02:22:31.140
but you know many of his policies are based on common sense and he's bringing that that back
02:22:36.360
no it's uh you know i'm gonna come back and ask you some specifics you have covered as combat
02:22:44.100
historians so many of the battles that president trump talked about and you're right i thought the
02:22:48.960
most powerful thing he says culture is destiny and we have to reinstill a culture of winning
02:22:53.700
and that's what he said that west point uh has steve gruber uh your your comments and thoughts
02:22:59.080
no gruber okay can i get that i'll mention another thing that the president okay yeah go ahead
02:23:04.840
really powerful you know a lot of times presidents sort of sugarcoat things he was very clear it was
02:23:14.200
about killing the enemy and annihilating our foes in the event in the you know tragic in the tragic
02:23:21.540
event that we have to go to war but we would be prepared and i think that these are you know some
02:23:26.760
very powerful statements no absolutely i think he understands the core mission of readiness in
02:23:38.060
in combat and being able to win in combat what president trump i think is committed to these cadets
02:23:43.420
who later in the day as we said they're graduating right now as cadets uh you're having these are the
02:23:49.840
the top academic uh the top uh leaders of the core uh some of the top athletes uh after this the the
02:23:56.960
entire rest of the 1 000 which is pretty amazing given how tough west point is i think they started
02:24:02.780
with 1200 uh to only have a couple hundred drop out or not just drop out even be pushed back in classes
02:24:08.640
uh to uh to graduate this many uh i think mose was in the eight high 800s uh of course that was during
02:24:15.900
the iraq and afghanistan war uh patrick correct me if i'm wrong he committed to a culture of winning
02:24:23.060
culture is destiny and we have to get a culture of winning and he said he would not send combat troops
02:24:29.100
uh into any other endeavors that we were not in it to win it and i think that that is a huge huge huge
02:24:36.480
psychological change from the uh from the forever war mentality sir absolutely steve this is a sea change
02:24:44.880
this is really important stuff it's about the understanding of you know we're not going to
02:24:50.000
commit our troops to wars that we can't win and there's going to be a focus on on winning in the
02:24:56.620
event you know tragic event if we have to go to war um let's talk about he mentioned some of the uh
02:25:05.420
some of the conflicts chosen reservoir some of the others that you have covered he also brought up and
02:25:10.700
i'd like your uh comments and observations on uh this um he said hey the first world war the second
02:25:17.660
world war people have around the world commemorate that and and celebrate the ending of those wars
02:25:23.260
and he made the point we had so much to do with the winning of the first world war we clearly were the
02:25:28.780
were the arsenal of democracy and provided so many of the combat troops and the valor uh in both
02:25:35.340
europe and the pacific really pacific was our war um that we're going to start commemorating that
02:25:40.960
right turning veterans day now today and i say this is a veteran but i think every veteran would
02:25:45.680
gladly turn it into a commemoration of the of the first world war which it used to be before it's
02:25:50.740
changed to to that we've got a couple minutes before we take a break uh patrick give me your thoughts
02:25:55.340
i think you know what he's trying to say in a sense is that we don't recognize the sacrifice of of many
02:26:03.260
of our veterans you know it goes back to a quote from cicero poor is the nation that has no heroes
02:26:09.400
but poor still is a nation that has having heroes fails to honor them and i think that's a case with
02:26:15.760
with the united states in many ways we don't really honor our history we forget it constantly so i think
02:26:21.820
that there's a real need to look back at some of these um you know great conflicts such as the first
02:26:28.600
world war and the second world war where the united states plays a tremendous role in the success of
02:26:35.960
that war i mean you look at for instance russia or the soviet union they have you know tens of millions
02:26:43.420
that are dead but they had never would have been able to sustain their war effort had not been for
02:26:48.380
the lend lease that the united states provided to it in a massive way you know we're talking about 50
02:26:55.080
or 60 000 trucks tanks thousands of aircraft ships all kinds of things that were just vitally
02:27:01.660
important to that economy but on the other hand it is also an allied effort that you know won world war
02:27:08.380
ii and uh but i think that you know in many cases here in the united states we don't even really
02:27:12.840
recognize the significance of the role of uh america but the the sacrifice that yeah the sacrifice of
02:27:21.180
north africa and sicily he called out sicily particularly which was so brutal and so bloody
02:27:26.020
i thought it was great the italian campaign obviously d-day the the unheralded eighth air
02:27:31.600
corps over so i tell you what patrick hang on one second we're taking a short commercial break i have
02:27:35.340
patrick k o'donnell in studio uh and the great combat historian also steve gruber is at west point
02:27:42.300
at mikey stadium this is historic coverage wall to wall on the historic president trump his second term
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going to address the united states military academy and giving quite frankly a blockbuster
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