President Trump Delivers West Point Graduation Speech as Relationships With Military Leaders Grow Strained – By Darlene Superville (AP) / June 13 2020
(WEST POINT. N.Y.) — President Donald Trump on Saturday highlighted the diversity of West Point’s graduating class and appealed for America’s newest officers to uphold the country’s core values, a speech emphasizing unity at a time when the commander in chief’s relationship with military leaders has become strained and questions have arisen about the role of soldiers in a civil society.
“You have come from the farms and the cities, from states big and small, and from every race, religion, color, and creed. But when you entered these grounds, you became part of one team one family, proudly serving one American nation,” Trump told the more than 1,100 graduating cadets.
Trump’s commencement speech came as arguments rage over his threat to use American troops on U.S. soil to quell protests stemming from the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
The president told the Class of 2020 that “you became brothers and sisters pledging allegiance to the same timeless principles, joined together in a common mission: to protect our country, to defend our people, and to carry on the traditions of freedom, equality and liberty that so many gave their lives to secure.” He said they “exemplify the power of shared national purpose to transcend all differences and achieve true unity. Today, you graduate as one class, and you embody one noble creed: duty, honor, country.”
Tensions between the White House and the military have escalated since nationwide protests began over the death of Floyd, a black man who was pinned by the neck by a white police officer for several minutes despite saying he couldn’t breathe.
Continue to article: https://time.com/5853256/trump-west-point-graduation/
