“Swamp Wisdom vs. Swamp Politics: A Commencement Clash”

May 25, 2025 11:49 AM EDT, Sun

Drag shows, ‘trophy wives,’ and Al Capone: Trump’s rambling West Point commencement left many confused
Kermit the Frog commencement speech to Maryland students encourages ‘big leaps’
Trump must remember who his West Point commencement speech is really for
Military academy graduations are unique in that every graduate knows what their first job is going to be and where.
May 24, 2025, 6:00 AM EDT / Updated May 24, 2025, 11:37 AM EDT
By Jeff McCausland, retired Army colonel and former member of the National Security Council

Kermit the Frog	Donald J Trump
Kermit the Frog University of Maryland speech transcript By Baltimore Sun staff PUBLISHED: May 23, 2025 at 12:06 PM EDT Generations have heard Kermit the Frog’s voice from the youngest of ages. So what did the puppet, created by 1960 University of Maryland alumnus Jim Henson, have to say to a graduating class full of young adults? Formatted by The Baltimore Sun from an automatic transcription of a video of the speech, the text of Kermit’s May 22, 2025, University of Maryland commencement address (voiced by muppet performer Matt Vogel) is below.	President Trump Delivers Commencement Speech At West Point: “Fight, Fight, Fight And Win, Win, Win” / Video / RealClearPolitics Posted By Tim Hains On Date May 24, 2025 President Donald Trump is giving the Commencement speech for the U.S. Military Academy Graduation at West Point on Saturday morning. Read the transcript of Trump’s commencement address:
Hi, everybody. Hello. I mean, wow, look at this crowd! Look at all these graduation caps with their decorations. Wow, wow! What a thrill it is to be back here at the University of Maryland and celebrate the class of 2025! And, don’t forget the summer class of 2024! And, the winter class of 2024! Yeah! Uh, did I leave anybody out? No? Great. Good. You are all here you’re all here to listen to a frog in a very tiny cap and gown give a commencement speech on, uh, well, what’s actually turned out to be a pretty beautiful evening. Yeah, either way I can guarantee you the forecast calls for a 100% chance of frog, so, here I am. President Pines, Provost Rice, esteemed professors, proud parents, families, friends, fighting Terps and fellow amphibians, thank you for having me. Let’s hear it again for the graduates! Yeah, now as I look out at you, students, I can tell that you have all worked your tails off. And, as a former tadpole, believe me, losing your tail is a pretty big deal, so, go Terps! Now, I realize that today is one of the most important days of your lives, so, I am honored to share some words of wisdom about three things that are close to my heart: Finding your people, taking the leap, and making connections. Yeah, now, you and I share someone very special, University of Maryland. And I am talking of course about my friend Jim Henson. Yeah, Jim in the early days, he had a hand in literally everything I did. Yeah, Jim and his wife Jane were proud students right here at UMD when the food at the Stamp was good. Back then, they even had mosquito sprinkles for your ice cream. I miss that. And, as I’m sure you know, there’s a statue of Jim and me on campus and, uh, it is not far from another campus legend, Testudo the Turtle. Uh, I hear, by the way, that we are distant cousins. And, uh, although I know you rub his nose for good luck, please do not rub my nose, um, unless you’re a fly, in which case, I’d say, “Lunch is served.” But, uh, but it was Jim who taught me about finding your people. And Jim was a collector. He loved collecting actors and artists and musicians — anyone with talent. You know, Jim shared with me that when he was first coming up with the idea for “The Muppet Show,” nobody knew what they had. But, Jim knew who he had. Yeah, he knew that there was a show there and he wanted to show the world. And that was Jim. He could always see the spark in someone. He saw the potential and he saw what was unique in each person. And he taught me what’s unique about you should always be shared. And that really stuck with me, which is why you’ll see me hanging out with a bear and a pig and a penguin and a prawn, and, uh, whatever Gonzo is. Seriously, if anybody knows, please see me after the ceremony. But Jim believed that everyone had a place. Jim thought of that and he made us believe it. And so, my whole life I tried to appreciate people for exactly who they are. Uh, even if they are a pig who hogs the spotlight. Oh, I’m probably going to get in trouble for that one. But truly, there’s a spot for everyone in the show, isn’t that right, Arts and Humanities majors? That’s right. I see you. That’s right. Yeah, I also see you, biology majors. Yeah, but, uh, you’re not going to get me to step foot inside your lab. No way. Forget it. But, congratulations anyway. Look, now there is no guarantee that the show is always good or that it’ll go off without a hitch or it doesn’t have its, uh, hecklers. Yeah. But the show must go on. And, if you’re with your people, and you won’t have to do it alone. Because, life is not a solo act. No, it’s not. It’s a big, messy, delightful ensemble piece, especially when you’re with your people. You know, in fact, look around. Seriously, go ahead, look around. You’re probably sitting next to some of your people right now. These are friends that you might have for your whole life. And there will be many others to collect along the way, so, always keep your eyes open, like I do. Actually, I can’t really close my eyes, but, um, always be on the lookout for old friends you’ve just met. Also, can you be on the lookout for Animal? I hear he hit a few graduation parties last night and we haven’t seen him since. OK, so, once you have found your people, you’re ready for what comes next: Taking the leap. And leaping, uh, is kind of something we frogs know a thing or two about. And, uh, judging by the number of you who’ve leapt into McKeldin Fountain at 2 o’clock in the morning, so do you. So, do you. Yeah, you know, when I was, uh, just a little bit younger than all of you, I used to have a fun in the swamp playing leaprog. It was our favorite game. Or, kind of our only game. But we loved it. Except for my cousin, Albert. He never actually leapt. He just stepped on your back and used your head like a lily pad. Sure. he got ahead, but it was only by stepping on you. We’ve been told that that’s how you succeed. And some choose to believe it. But I know they’re wrong. So, as you prepare to take this big leap into real life, here’s a little advice, if you’re willing to listen to a frog. Rather than jumping over someone to get what you want, consider reaching out your hand and taking the leap side by side. Because, life is better when we leap together. And that brings me to my final point: Making connections. Now, right now many of you are trying to make career connections and networking connections and are applying for jobs and grad schools and quietly panicking about rent and loans and the price of eggs. Good grief. I know the past four years have brought more challenges than anyone expected. Sometimes, it can feel like the challenges just keep coming. But, but look at you. I know that you’re going to be OK because you’re here. You did it! And I think that deserves another round of applause! Right now you’re all dressed in your caps and gowns all grown up. But your family is probably looking at you still seeing you as that little preschooler sitting crisscross applesauce, maybe learning the alphabet from my friend Big Bird on Sesame Street. And, for you, that was a lifetime ago. But for them probably feels like yesterday. Which brings me to one really important connection that I got to mention and that’s the one that you share with your parents or your family or the special people who helped you get here today. And you all know who they are. A lot of them, they’re probably here right now. And some of them they might not be, but, trust me, you’re still connected to them. You really are. And that’s the thing about love: It sticks with you even when you’re apart. So, let’s give all of those connections a round of applause, too. Because, if I know a thing, it’s important to stay connected to your loved ones, stay connected to your friends, and most of all stay connected to your dreams. No matter how big. No matter how impossible they seem. The truth is dreams are how we figure out where we want to go. And life is how we get there. So, graduates, I see you. I see you out there. And I know that you will find your people. I know that you’re going to take big leaps and I know that even though you’re about to throw your caps in the air — good luck finding ’em again — I know that you will stay connected, to your families, your friends and your dreams. Because, life’s like a movie. Write your own ending. Keep believing. Keep pretending. You’ve all done just what you set out to do. And you’re just getting started! Oh, and the music’s getting started, too, which means my speech is coming to an end. But, before I go, maybe I could get you all to sing along with me? Here we go: Why are there so many songs about rainbows? And what’s on the other side? Rainbows are visions, but only illusions. And rainbows have nothing to hide. So we’ve been told, and some choose to believe it. I know they’re wrong; wait and see. Someday we’ll find it, the rainbow connection. The lovers, the dreamers and me! Thank you! Thank you, University of Maryland! Thank you for having me and congratulations to the class of 2025! Yay!	PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: This is a beautiful place. I’ve been here many times, going to high school, not so far away. A good place, also a military academy. Not quite of this distinction, but it was a lot of fun for me. I just want to say hello, cadets, and on behalf of our entire nation, let me begin by saying congratulations to the West Point Class of 2025. You are winners, every single one of you. Thank you. And now we want you to relax, and I’m supposed to say at ease, but you’re already at ease, because you’ve made a great choice in what you’re doing. Your choices in life have been really amazing. So this is a celebration, and let’s have a little fun. I want to thank your highly respected superintendent, General Stephen Guillen, and he is really something. I got to know him backstage with his beautiful family, and his reputation, his wife is just incredible. His reputation is unbelievable, and thank you very much. Your daughter is a winner also, just like everybody. Thank you. I also want to thank Commandant General R.J. Garcia, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, Army Chief of Staff General Randy George, Senator Ashley Moody, Representatives Steve Womack, Bill Huizenga, Pat Ryan, Mark Green, Keith Self, Acting U.S. Attorney Alina Hava, and very much just all of the friends and family. We have a lot of friends in the audience today, and I just want to thank them all for being here. We have a tremendous amount of my friends. They wanted to come up, and they wanted to watch the ceremony, and they wanted to watch you much more so than me. So I just want to thank so many people here. Over the past four years, an extraordinary group of professors, teachers, coaches, leaders, and warriors have transformed this class of cadets into an exceptional group of scholars and soldiers. So let’s give the entire group, the entire West Point faculty and staff, for their incredible love of you and outstanding devotion to the Corps. Let’s give them a little hand. And importantly, we can’t forget all of those people beaming with pride. Look at them in the audience. They’re so proud. They’re in the stands. So thank your parents, your grandparents, and family members who made this all possible for you. Thank you. They must have done something right based on what I’m looking at. America loves our military moms and dads. Nearly one-third of the cadets graduating today are themselves the children of veterans. So to everyone with us this morning who served America in uniform, no matter your age, please stand so we can salute you, sir, because we’d like to see who you are. We should savor this morning because this is a day you will never, ever forget. In a few moments, you will become graduates of the most elite and historic military academy in human history, and you will become officers in the greatest and most powerful army the world has ever known. And I know because I rebuilt that army, and I rebuilt the military. And we rebuilt it like nobody has ever rebuilt it before in my first step. Your experience here at West Point has been anything but easy. Looking out at all of you today, I can proudly say, mission accomplished. Great job. But now you have to go on. You have to forget that, because now you have another. It’s a sad thing, isn’t it? You can’t rest on your laurels no matter what. You just have to keep going. You take a little day off, and you go on to the rest. Because you have to have victory after victory after victory, and that’s what you’re going to have as you receive your commissions as second lieutenants. Each of you continues down the same hallowed path walked by titans and legends of U.S. military law, giants like Ulysses S. Grant, John Blackjack Hershey, Dwight David Eisenhower, the one and only Douglas MacArthur. Old blooded guts George Patton, and storming Norman Schwarzenegger. Old blooded. So many more. They, countless other patriots before you have walked out of these halls and strayed into history, and today you officially join those immortal heroes in a proud ranks of the Long Gray Line. You know that term. So beautiful. The Long Gray Line. Among the 1,000 cadets graduating today, 26 of you wear the prestigious star ring signifying the highest level of academic achievement. Please stand up. 26. Let’s see if somebody stands who shouldn’t be standing. This class includes an incredible four Rhodes Scholars. Stand up, that’s four. That’s tied for the most of any West Point class since 1959. Congratulations. Boy, oh boy, oh boy, I don’t want to have them go too far away from me. Eight cadets here today took on the challenge of designing their own hypersonic rocket. I don’t know if we could use you building them right now. You know, we had ours stolen. We are the designer of it. We had it stolen during the Obama administration. They stole it. You know who stole it? The Russians stole it. Something bad happened. But we’re now, we’re the designer of it. We’re now building them. Lots of them. And earlier this year, they launched it into space, setting a world record for aperture rocket. They can’t get you in there fast enough. 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. Cadet Chris Verdugo completed the task in two hours and 30 minutes flat, smashing the international record for the competition by 13 minutes. Where is he? Where is he? Come up here. Come up here, Chris. Get up here. Wow. Come here. By 13 minutes. Come here, Chris. It’s been a long five years, but I couldn’t have done it without you guys. Love you. Keep it going, Chris. That really is the definition of Army’s strongest in the international. The first woman in West Point history to complete Niagara School of Cadets, Megan Cooper and Clara Sabre. Where are you? Stand up. Where are they? Wow. Great job. That is not easy. Congratulations, Megan and Clara. That’s a job well done. Thank you very much. Some of you achieved a different kind of distinction here at the academy, including century men who completed 100 hours of marching for disciplinary. Oh, no. Infraction. No. Oh, I’m so sorry. Would you like to stand up? I think I saw Chris standing up. Chris, what’s going on? I can’t believe Chris is standing up. But we want everyone to leave here today, Chris, so you’re going to be okay because you’re going to do something with a clean slate. So keeping with tradition, I hereby pardon all cadets on restriction for minor conduct offenses effective immediately. So you’re all good. The class of 2025 is a lot to be proud of, including your first great athletes in athletics. You are something. I’ve been watching you too. I love the sports stuff. What you’ve done is pretty amazing. Last year, for the first time ever, Army lacrosse became the number one ranked men’s lacrosse team in the entire country. Those of you on the team, stand. That’s a big honor. Stand. It’s a tough sport, too. That’s number one in the country. Your sophomore year, Army football beat Navy 2017. And the next year, you did it again, beating Navy 17-11 and dominating Air Force 23-3. But this year, the Black Knights fought their way into the top 20 nationally and racked up your longest winning streak since 1949 with the help of graduating quarterback cadet Bryson Daly, or as you call him, Captain of the Merc. Captain of the Merc. Stand up, Bryson. We gotta get him up here, right? Come on, Bryson. I heard you. I heard you. You said, well, I can do it again, can’t I? I said, yeah. He can get it today, I don’t care. But he chose this life, and you know I want to keep hitting it. Come on up here, Bryson. Come on up. Wow. Go Army football. Shout out to the Hawks. Thanks, Troy. Can’t wait to graduate. Love you guys. Captain’s show was like a hit piece of steel. That was a good show. There’s always a reason for success. Thank you, Bryson. At a time when other top college quarterbacks were thinking about going pro, Bryson’s mind was on something else. He told the interviewer earlier this year, I’m focused on my career as an infantry officer. That’s what he wants to do. Each of you on the field today is among the most talented members of your generation. You could have done anything you wanted. You could have gone anywhere. You could have gone to any school. This is one of the hardest schools to get into. And writing your own record to top jobs on the Wall Street is so good. I don’t think it would be made, but I think what you do is better. Instead of sports teams, spreadsheets, and so on, he chose a life of service, very important service, instead of stock options. And I do that sometimes. It’s sort of boring. Compared to what you do, it’s a little boring. He chose honor and he chose sacrifice. Instead of business suits, fresh shoes, he chose muddy boots and fatigues, keeping himself in shape. Because West Point cadets don’t just have the brightest minds, they also have the brightest hearts and the noblest souls of the nation’s people. I could not be more proud to serve you as your commander-in-chief, and our country is doing well. We’ve turned the round very quickly. We’ve turned the round. I just got back from the Middle East. And as you know, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE. And I will tell you, they said, all three leaders, great leaders of those three nations, they all said the same thing. The United States of America is hotter now than we’ve ever seen. And a year ago, it was as cold as it gets. And it’s true. It’s true. We have the hottest country in the world and the whole world is talking about it. It’s an honor for all of us. I could not wait to see the glory that it is still ahead. However, for the West Point class of 2025, 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. All the victories that you’ve had together in these rounds will soon pale in comparison to the momentous feats that you’ll perform on the mission you’re accepting today as the future leader of America’s army. And we have that army. We have more than just one trillion dollar military budget, General. One trillion. Some people say, could you get it back? I said, I’m not getting $0.10. This is another thing we can cut. We can cut money on it right then. We can cut money on it when we have the command here. It’s a very different warfare out there today. They’ve introduced a thing called drone. A drone is a little bit different. It makes you have to go back and do a whole new form of warfare. You’re going to do it better than anybody else or anyone close. Generation after generation of men, women in the army have done whatever it takes to defend their flag, pouring out their blood into the fields of battle all over the world. And all over the world, they’re respected like nobody is respected. Our soldiers have sprinted through storms of bullets, clouds of crap, slogged through miles of barren oceans of sand, scaled towering cliffs of jagged rock. And time and time again, the American soldiers charged into the fires of hell and sent the devil racing in full retreat. No task has ever been too tough for the American Army. And now that 250-year legacy of glory and triumph belongs to you, the 1,000 U.S. officers of the greatest fighting force in the history of the world, that’s what you are, that’s what you become. Again, you are the first West Point graduates of the Golden Age of America. This is the golden age. And you are going to lead the army to summits of greatness that has never reached before. You see that. You see what’s happening. You see what’s going on in the world. Each of you is entering the office of coroner, defining moment of your decision. For at least two decades, two political leaders from both parties have dragged our military into missions it was never meant to be. It wasn’t meant to be. People would say, why are we doing this? Why are we wasting our time, money, and souls in some ways? They sent our warriors on nation-building crusades to nations that wanted nothing to do with us, led by leaders that didn’t have a clue in distant lands, while abusing our soldiers with absurd ideological experiments, here and at home. All of that’s ended. You know that. All of it’s ended. And it is strongly ended. And now you do not have to think about it anymore. They subjected the armed forces to all manner of social prejudice and political causes, while leaving our borders undefended and depleting our skills to fight for other countries’ borders. But we didn’t fight for our own border, but now we do, like we have never fought before. But under the Trump administration, those days are over. We’re getting rid of these distractions and we’re focusing our military on its core mission, crushing America’s adversaries, killing America’s enemies, and defending our great American flag like it has never been defended before. The job of the U.S. armed forces is not to host grand shows, to transform foreign cultures, or to spread democracy to everybody around the world at the point of a gun. The military’s job is to dominate any flow and annihilate any threat to America, anywhere, anytime, and anyplace. A big part of that job is to be respected again, and you are, as of right now, respected more than any army anywhere in the world. And when that’s happening, I can tell you, you are respected like nobody can believe. As President, I am assured your focus is on our core national interests. My preference will always be to make peace and seek partnership, even with countries where our differences may be profound. As you know, we’re working on a lot of things right now. When I left office four years ago, we had no wars, we had no problems, we had nothing but success. We had the most incredible economy, the single greatest economy for a president in history. I think we’re repeating this guy by a lot growing up, but we had something going on very special. And if the United States retaliates on a threat to attack the army, we’ll obliterate our opponents with overwhelming strength and devastating force. That’s why my administration has begun a colossal buildup of the United States Armed Forces. A buildup like we’ve never had before. Peace through strength, you know the term, I’ve used it a lot. Because as much as you want to fight, I’d rather do it without having to fight. I just want to look at them and have them fall. And that’s happening. And I’ve approved a $1 trillion investment. And that will be again the largest ever in the history of our country. And we are buying new airplanes, brand new beautiful planes, redesigned planes, brand new planes, totally stealth planes. I own this stuff. I own that whole stealth thing. I’m the one who can communicate freely this way. They don’t see it, but the other way they see it, I’m not so sure. That’s what they tell me. We have the best tanks anywhere in the world. We’re going to start shipbuilding again. We used to build a ship a day. Now we don’t build them anymore. A lot of people didn’t know much about getting things built, but that’s all I’ve done in my life is build. And we have the best missiles, we already have drones, and much, much more. We’re early this week. I think you’ll like this, I ask that we are officially building all of America, made in America, designed in America. We’re the only ones that can do it because we’re the only ones with the great technology. We’re building the golden dome missile defense shield to protect our homeland and to protect West Point from attack. And it will be completed before I leave office. And you wouldn’t think this, but our enemies are very unhappy about it. They’ve been hearing, they’ve been reading, why are they doing that, why? Well, we’re doing it because we want to be around for a long time, that’s why we’re doing it. We’re also restoring the fundamental principle and central purpose of our military is to protect our own borders from invasion. Our country was invaded for the last four years, and they’ve allowed people to come into our country that shouldn’t be here. Criminals walk in, no vetting, no checking, no nothing. Where are they coming from? And they were taking people out of prisons, they were taking gang members, they were taking the mentally insane and allowing them to come in, and we’re getting them out of our country. They have no choice. We’re getting them out and bringing them back where they came from. No choice. And it’s not easy. It’s not easy. But hopefully the courts will allow us to continue. You know, we had a great election. The victory was November 5th. We won the popular vote by millions of votes. We won all seven swing states. We won everything. We won 2,750 districts against 505. 2,750 against 505. We had a great mandate, and it gives us the right to do what we want to do to make our country great again, and that’s what we’re going to do. On day one, I deployed our military to the southern border, and since that day, we’ve reduced the number of illegal border crossings where there used to be hundreds of thousands of people coming into our country a day. We had nobody come in in the last week and a half. We were at 99.999%. 99.999, think again. I was with the help of our military. We had one person come in. One. You know why? You get very sick. We brought him to a hospital. One person. And to that, please don’t hold me responsible, but that’s okay. They did the right thing. Gone are the days where defending every nation but our own was the primary thought. But we are putting America first. We have to put America first. We have to rebuild and defend our nation. And very shortly, you’re going to see a nation better than it’s ever been. And you see that with the trade. The years we’ve been ripped off by every nation in the world are a trade. We’ve been ripped off at the NATO level. We’ve been ripped off like no country has ever been ripped off. And you see, you have to watch what we’re doing in Canada. I know it’s not your primary thing, but it’s quite important to all of us. But watch. You’ll see what’s going on. We’ve been reading about it over the last few days. We’re making deals with other nations that were not even, nobody thought it would be even possible. And the reason is very simple. They respect us again. They’re respecting our country again just as we were. And everything we do, we are bringing common sense back to America. It’s all about common sense. We can say we’re liberal, conservative. The new words progressive don’t like to use the word liberal anymore. That’s why I call them liberal. But whatever you are right now, most importantly, you have to have common sense. Because most of it’s, in general, most of it’s about common sense is what you’ve been brought down to. And we have a lot of people with a lot of, a lot of very smart people, but they have to have common sense. We’ve liberated our dreams from divisive and demeaning political trends. There will be no more critical race theory or trends agenda for everybody forced on to operate men and women in uniform work on anybody else’s land. And we will not have men playing in women’s sports, if that’s okay. I mean, I wouldn’t want to have to tackle, as an example, Bryson as a man, but I don’t think a lot of women want to tackle him. I don’t think so. So ridiculous, so demeaning, so demeaning to women. And it’s over. That’s over. We’ve ended it. And promotions and appointments will not be based on politics or identity. They’ll be based on merit. And what that means is the Supreme Court has said we’re allowed to go back to a system of merit. We’re a merit-based country. Recruiting shortfalls. Just last year was the worst of all. The last year of the Biden administration. We couldn’t get anybody to join our military. We couldn’t get anybody to join our police. And then right now, just less than a year later, we just set a brand-new peacetime recruiting record. Most people join, and we are brimming with confidence and we’re brimming with people. We had the most best recruiting month that we’ve had in memory. Nobody remembers anything like it. And that’s all because they have spirit now. They have spirit. They have spirit for our country. And now everybody wants to be doing what we’re doing. Think of that. Well, it’s really a great honor. And I’m pleased to report that by next week, the Army is expected to surpass its recruiting targets for the entire year, something that hasn’t happened in 28 years where we’ve had that. So, that’s a pretty good honor. And it’s nice to know that you’re doing something that everybody wants to do. Isn’t that really nice? Listen, I hate to hear that. During the campaign, I was hearing that you couldn’t get people to enlist. And that made me sad because you’re telling so many people, I’m sorry we let you do it. My administration is doing everything possible to forge the most powerful military ever built. But ultimately, the task of keeping America strong and safe in the years ahead is going to belong to you. Among you are the lieutenants, majors, colonels, and generals who will lead the Army for the next 10, 20, 30, and even 40 years. So, as Commander-in-Chief, let me offer a few words of advice as you begin your Army careers. I thought I’d do this and I can make this to a civilian audience or to a military audience. It’s pretty much the same thing. And I did this recently at Ohio State. And they really liked it. They gave a little advice as to what I see for what you want to do and some tips. And first of all, you’ve already done it. You’re different from civilians that are making the decision right now. You’re already making the decision. You have to do what you love. You have to do what you love. If you don’t love it, you’ll never be successful at it. And you’ve done this. And really, many of you in the audience, many of you that are graduating, you’ve come from military backgrounds where you love the military. It’s what you want to do. It’s what you want to talk about. One thing I see about people that love the military, that’s all they want to talk about. I’ll be out to dinner. Generals, if they love their job, usually the only good ones are the ones that want to talk about it all the time. But if that’s what they want to talk about, I really, really, very rarely see somebody successful that doesn’t love what he or she does. You have to love what you do. In your case, the military is what you chose. And I’ll tell you what, you did not go. You didn’t see it through. You worked more and more time. You know, I work all the time. It’s all I do is work, whether it’s politically or before that. I was a very good businessman occasionally. But it was good because I loved it. I loved it. I learned from my father a little bit. My father was a happy guy. And all he did was work. He’d work Saturdays, Sundays. He’d work all the time. And he was a happy guy. Just loved life. And I learned that. I said, you know, it makes you happy. I’ve seen other people that never work and they’re not happy. You’ve got to love it. Otherwise, you won’t be successful in the Army. There are a lot of different paths you can take. So follow your instincts and make sure that you take the path that you love, that you’re doing something that you love within your military. You will be happier in the Army. You will be far stronger for it. Second is to think big. Always think big. If you’re going to do something, you might as well think big, do it big, because it’s just as tough and sometimes it’s a lot easier thinking big than doing the small task that’s more difficult. One of your greatest graduates, General Eisenhower, used to say, whenever I run into a problem that I can’t solve, I always like to make it bigger to solve it and solve more of it. If you go to solve a problem, it might as well be a big problem as opposed to a small problem that lots of people can take advantage of and solve. So you can achieve something really amazing, think big. Third, though, you’ve got to do this with great power you have to have, potential you have to have, but to be real successful, you’re always going to have to work hard. An example is a great athlete, Gary Player, great golfer. He wasn’t as big as the other men that were playing against him, great big strong guys. Gary was a smaller guy. I don’t want to even say just a little bit, but he was a 90-gram baby boy. Because he hit the ball just as hard, he said, I hit the ball further than them, why am I small? But he worked very, very hard. He was always doing exercise. He was always doing well ahead of his time. He never stopped. He won 168 youth tournaments. He won 18 majors, 9 regular and 9 in the senior tour, 18 with 168. That’s the most tournaments he ever won. But he made a statement a few years ago and I heard it. He’s the first one I think I’ve heard a couple of times since, but he was the first. He said it’s funny, the harder I work, the luckier I get. And think of that, the harder I work, the luckier I get. You work hard, you work hard, the harder you work, the luckier you get. Fourth is, don’t lose your momentum. Momentum is an amazing thing. I tell the story sometimes about a man who was a great, great real estate man. It was a man who was admired for real estate all over the world actually, but all over the country. He built 11 towns. He started as a man who built one house, then he built two, then he built five, then he built 20, then he built 1,000, then he built 2,000, 3,000 a year. And he got very big, very big. He’s the greatest one he did. You see him all over the country, still 11 towns. This was a long time ago, but he was the first of the really, really big home builders. And he became very rich. He became a very rich man. And then he decided to sell. He was offered a lot of money by a big conglomerate, Gulf of Western, big conglomerate. They didn’t do real estate. They didn’t know anything about it, but they saw the money he was making, they wanted to take the public company. And they gave him a lot of money, tremendous amount of money, more money than he ever thought he had. And he sold his company, and he had nothing to do. He ended up getting a divorce, found a new wife. Could you say a trophy wife? I guess we could say a trophy wife. It didn’t work out too well. And if that doesn’t work out too well, I must tell you, a lot of trophy wives doesn’t work out. But it made him happy for a little while at least. But he found a new wife. He sold his little boat. He got a big yacht. He had one of the biggest yachts anywhere in the world. He moved for a time to Monte Carlo, and he lived a good life. And time went by and he got bored. And 15 years later, the company that he sold to called to him, and they said, the housing business is not for us. You have to understand, we’re going to lose hot when we get momentum. He’d go to the job sites every night and pick up every loose nail. He’d pick up every scrap of wood. If there was a bolt or a screw link in the ground, he’d pick it up and they’d use it the next day and put it in the other house. But now he was spoiled, and he was rich, he was really rich. And they called him, and they said, this isn’t for us. Would you like to buy it back yourself, back to your team? And they did. He bought it. He bought it. He thought he made a great deal, and he was all excited. But it was 15 years later, he lost a lot of momentum. Remember the word momentum. And he lost everything. It just didn’t work. He lost everything. And I was sitting at a party with a family one night, a long time ago. And yet the biggest people in New York, the biggest people in the country were all in that party, and they were all saluting each other. How great they were, and they were all telling each other, I’m greater than you, because you really, because you’re heavy sometimes. But they had all these people that were telling their own stories about how fantastic a cocktail party, and I looked over, and I was doing well. I was an underdog. I was invited to the party, so I had to be doing well. I was very, very young. But I made a name for myself. I looked over, and I had the party sitting in the corner all by myself. Nobody was talking to me. It was just 11. He had just gotten angry and lost everything. He lost everything. His home, everything. And I went over and talked to him, because he was in the real estate business, and I had a lot of real estate, and I said, hello, Mr. Donald, how are you? He said, hello, Donald, it’s nice to meet you. He knew me from being in the business. I said, so how’s it going? He goes, not well. It’s really not going well, as you probably read. It’s been very, very tough for me, son. And I said, so what happened? Is there anything you can do? He goes, no, there’s not a thing I can do. He said, I’ll never forget. He said, I’ve lost my momentum. I just didn’t have it. I used to have it, but I lost my momentum. So it’s a story to tell, and you have to know when you have the momentum, but sometimes you have to also know when you’ve lost the momentum. And leaving a field, sometimes leaving what you’re doing sometimes is okay, but you’ve got to have momentum, but you have to know when that momentum is gone. You have to know when to say it’s time to get out. And it’s a very sad story. I remember that story so well, like it was yesterday. Fifth, you have to have the courage to take risks and to do things differently. Eisenhower again was threatened with court-martials as a young officer for advocating a new doctrine of tank warfare. Billy Mitchell was thrown out of the Army for pioneering the use of air power. This is what he did with air power. Don’t be ridiculous. People were willing to try and do things differently. It’s never going to be easy for them, but they’re the ones that are going to really do the important things. They’re the ones who are going to make history. So don’t be ashamed, and don’t be afraid. This is a time of incredible change, and we do not need an officer corps of guerrillas and the FN, and people that want to keep it going the way it’s been, because it changes rapidly, especially what you’re doing. Because believe it or not, you’re in a business, a profession, where things change rapidly like warfare, the type of warfare. Unfortunately, we get to see it with Russia and Ukraine, and we’re studying it, and it’s a very terrible thing to study. But we’re seeing the different forms of warfare. We’re seeing the drones that are coming down at angles, with speed, with precision. We’ve never seen anything like it, and we’re learning from it. But your profession changes very rapidly. You’ve got to be at the top of it. You’ve got to be right at the head of the deal. We need patriots with guts and vision, backbone to take personal risks to ensure that America wins. Every single time, we want to win our battles. And I defeated ISIS in three weeks. They told me it would take five years. And the general that did it, you know that story, was named Race to Cain. His name is Dan Cain. His nickname was Race to Cain. I said, your name is Race to Cain. I love that. Is that a nickname? That’s what they call me, sir. I love you, General. I think you’re the guy I’m looking for. I want to know if my name is Race to Cain. He is now the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and I respect the man. And we defeated ISIS. They said, how long in Washington? Sir, it will take four years to defeat them, maybe five. And maybe we won’t, because they don’t want to put a price on us. And then I met a man who said we could do it in three weeks, and we did it in three weeks. And that’s why he’s the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff right now. And we did things that nobody thought were possible. We had great military success. When you have the right people, you’re going to have tremendous success. Six, never lose your faith in America and the American people, because they’re always going to be there for you. I went through a very tough time with some very radicalized, sick people. And I say I was investigated more than the great, great Alphonse Capone. Alphonse Capone was a monster. He was a very hard criminal. I went through more investigations than Alphonse Capone. And now I’m talking to you as president. Can you believe this? Can you believe it? So you’ve got to fight hard. You’re going to never give up. And don’t let bad people take you down. And let them, you’re going to take them down. And a lot of bad people out there. Those people you have to figure out. But you also have a lot of great people. And finally, hold on to your culture and your traditions, because that’s what makes something really great. And that’s what’s made the Army great. The culture and the tradition. Whether we’re talking about attacking a business, a sports team, or even a nation, history has shown that in many ways culture is destiny. So do not let anyone destroy the culture of winning. You have to win. Winning is a beautiful thing. Losing, not for us, not for anybody here, but what you would be here. From the earliest days of our nation, this supreme tradition of American military service has been passed down from soldier to soldier and generation to generation. It’s a beautiful thing to watch. Graduating today is to get Ricky McMahon, Ricky’s great-grandfather. Stand up wherever you are if you feel like this. Ricky’s great-grandfather served in World War I, his grandfather served in World War II, and his uncle, father, and mother all graduated from West Point. Where is Ricky? In 2004, when Ricky was just a little… His dad, Lt. Col. Michael McMahon, made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation in Afghanistan. Today, Lt. Col. McMahon rests on a farm here in the West Point Cemetery. Ricky McMahon, last year two decades after losing his father, Ricky Blasey, gold chip from his dad’s 1985 class ring into a crucible-long 87 of the rings were with him, a patch of West Point rags that were melted down to forge those now worn by the Class of 1945. Do you know what they were? I want one. Ricky, I want one. Each of you will carry Michael’s memory with you always as you continue the legacy he gave you and gave you, something that would be so proud, he is proud as he looks down. Ricky and his mom, Jeanette, knew of Bobby, what this place is all about, and I know Michael. He’s up there, he’s smiling broadly, he’s so proud. He’s so proud of you, Jeanette, you know that. And as a man, it couldn’t be any easier, a man that couldn’t be more proud. I just love that story. Everybody’s ring, they’re going to remember you, they’re going to remember your family, and most importantly, you’re going to remember a great tradition. It’s a great tradition of West Point and of the winners. Thank you very much, it’s great to meet you. If you want to come up, come on, come on. Come on. That’s nice. You’re a handsome guy. They’re all going to love you, I don’t know what’s coming. The whole crowd is beautiful. Thank you very much. I’d like to thank my mother, I’d like to thank my family, and I’d like to thank G3 Dogovers. These are good looking people, I’ll tell you, what’s going on? But two and a half centuries of republic is endured because of heroes like Michael, who laid down their lives for America, and because of young people like all of them. One saved by an unbroken chain of soldiers and vanguards who ran to the sound of the guns left into the maw of battle, and charged into the crucible of fire to seize the ground of victory, 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. From Seminary Ridge to San Juan Hill, Doublewood, Omaha Beach, Lake Tate Gulf, Arden Forest, Joseph, Reservoir Hollow, and even a place called Orchard Hill. And in all of those battles and so many more, some of the best riders 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, America’s Army has never failed us, and with leaders like the West Point Class of 2025, the Army will never fail. We will never let you down. 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 said, sir, we’re celebrating the victory today of World War II. And I said, wow, that’s nice. And I’d call another one, unrelated, sir, we’re celebrating the victory of World War II. And I’d call a president of France or something, also unrelated. He said, sir, we’re celebrating our victory over World War II. And I’ve had this Russian, Dr. Putin, about India, terrible war that’s gone on, and he said they had a big victory march, and they did lose as many as 51 million people. But they were all celebrating. The only country that wasn’t celebrating was the United States of America. Isn’t that amazing? We were the ones that won the war, and we were helped. We were helped. In some cases, we had to help them. But we were helped by some of the nations, and we were strongly helped by a couple of them. But every one of them was celebrating that victory day. They called it Victory Day here or Victory Day there. And we weren’t even thought about. Nobody had a Victory Day, so I named that special day and another special day from now on as a holiday, but a holiday where we work, because we don’t have enough days. We’re going to be having so many holidays, we’re not going to be able to work anymore. But I named it the World War II, and a separate day in November to now, the World War I. I said, you know, all these countries that participated in the war are celebrating, but the greatest country of all, and the country that won the war, nobody even talked about. And so what did we talk about? We won the First World War, we won the Second World War, and you know where we won them from? Right here at West Point. West Point won the war, they won two World Wars, and plenty of other things. We don’t want to have the Third World War, but we won the First World War, we won the Second World War, right here at West Point. And that’s something, and we’re going to be talking about it. You know, they can talk about it, and in some cases, as you know, they didn’t do too much to help. They were ground down, but they were celebrating. No, we’re going to celebrate, because we’re the ones that won that war. I’m standing before you today, I know that you will never stop, you will never quit, you will never give, you will never tire, you will never, ever, ever surrender, never give up, remember that, never give up. It’s another little factor in your head, never, ever give up. Raise your right hand. I pledge I will never, ever give up. You can never give up. You can never give up. If you do, you’re not going to be successful, because you’ll go through things that will be negative, great moments, you’re going to have bad moments, you’re going to have to give up. And you will fight, fight, fight, and win, win, win. So I want to just congratulate you all, I’m going back now, to deal with Russia, to deal with China, and to get you lots of victories. We’re going to keep winning, this country is going to keep winning, and with you, the job is done. Congratulations to the class of 2025. God bless you all. Thank you very much, everybody.

Kermit the Frog

Kermit the Frog University of Maryland speech transcript

By Baltimore Sun staff
PUBLISHED: May 23, 2025 at 12:06 PM EDT

Generations have heard Kermit the Frog’s voice from the youngest of ages. So what did the puppet, created by 1960 University of Maryland alumnus Jim Henson, have to say to a graduating class full of young adults? Formatted by The Baltimore Sun from an automatic transcription of a video of the speech, the text of Kermit’s May 22, 2025, University of Maryland commencement address (voiced by muppet performer Matt Vogel) is below.

President Trump Delivers Commencement Speech At West Point: “Fight, Fight, Fight And Win, Win, Win” / Video / RealClearPolitics

Posted By Tim Hains
On Date May 24, 2025

President Donald Trump is giving the Commencement speech for the U.S. Military Academy Graduation at West Point on Saturday morning. Read the transcript of Trump’s commencement address:

Hi, everybody. Hello. I mean, wow, look at this crowd! Look at all these graduation caps with their decorations. Wow, wow! What a thrill it is to be back here at the University of Maryland and celebrate the class of 2025! And, don’t forget the summer class of 2024! And, the winter class of 2024! Yeah! Uh, did I leave anybody out? No? Great. Good.

You are all here you’re all here to listen to a frog in a very tiny cap and gown give a commencement speech on, uh, well, what’s actually turned out to be a pretty beautiful evening. Yeah, either way I can guarantee you the forecast calls for a 100% chance of frog, so, here I am. President Pines, Provost Rice, esteemed professors, proud parents, families, friends, fighting Terps and fellow amphibians, thank you for having me. Let’s hear it again for the graduates!

Yeah, now as I look out at you, students, I can tell that you have all worked your tails off. And, as a former tadpole, believe me, losing your tail is a pretty big deal, so, go Terps! Now, I realize that today is one of the most important days of your lives, so, I am honored to share some words of wisdom about three things that are close to my heart: Finding your people, taking the leap, and making connections.

Yeah, now, you and I share someone very special, University of Maryland. And I am talking of course about my friend Jim Henson. Yeah, Jim in the early days, he had a hand in literally everything I did. Yeah, Jim and his wife Jane were proud students right here at UMD when the food at the Stamp was good. Back then, they even had mosquito sprinkles for your ice cream. I miss that. And, as I’m sure you know, there’s a statue of Jim and me on campus and, uh, it is not far from another campus legend, Testudo the Turtle. Uh, I hear, by the way, that we are distant cousins. And, uh, although I know you rub his nose for good luck, please do not rub my nose, um, unless you’re a fly, in which case, I’d say, “Lunch is served.”

But, uh, but it was Jim who taught me about finding your people. And Jim was a collector. He loved collecting actors and artists and musicians — anyone with talent. You know, Jim shared with me that when he was first coming up with the idea for “The Muppet Show,” nobody knew what they had. But, Jim knew who he had. Yeah, he knew that there was a show there and he wanted to show the world. And that was Jim. He could always see the spark in someone. He saw the potential and he saw what was unique in each person. And he taught me what’s unique about you should always be shared. And that really stuck with me, which is why you’ll see me hanging out with a bear and a pig and a penguin and a prawn, and, uh, whatever Gonzo is. Seriously, if anybody knows, please see me after the ceremony.

But Jim believed that everyone had a place. Jim thought of that and he made us believe it. And so, my whole life I tried to appreciate people for exactly who they are. Uh, even if they are a pig who hogs the spotlight. Oh, I’m probably going to get in trouble for that one. But truly, there’s a spot for everyone in the show, isn’t that right, Arts and Humanities majors? That’s right. I see you. That’s right. Yeah, I also see you, biology majors. Yeah, but, uh, you’re not going to get me to step foot inside your lab. No way. Forget it. But, congratulations anyway.

Look, now there is no guarantee that the show is always good or that it’ll go off without a hitch or it doesn’t have its, uh, hecklers. Yeah. But the show must go on. And, if you’re with your people, and you won’t have to do it alone. Because, life is not a solo act. No, it’s not. It’s a big, messy, delightful ensemble piece, especially when you’re with your people. You know, in fact, look around. Seriously, go ahead, look around. You’re probably sitting next to some of your people right now. These are friends that you might have for your whole life. And there will be many others to collect along the way, so, always keep your eyes open, like I do. Actually, I can’t really close my eyes, but, um, always be on the lookout for old friends you’ve just met. Also, can you be on the lookout for Animal? I hear he hit a few graduation parties last night and we haven’t seen him since.

OK, so, once you have found your people, you’re ready for what comes next: Taking the leap. And leaping, uh, is kind of something we frogs know a thing or two about. And, uh, judging by the number of you who’ve leapt into McKeldin Fountain at 2 o’clock in the morning, so do you. So, do you. Yeah, you know, when I was, uh, just a little bit younger than all of you, I used to have a fun in the swamp playing leaprog. It was our favorite game. Or, kind of our only game. But we loved it. Except for my cousin, Albert. He never actually leapt. He just stepped on your back and used your head like a lily pad. Sure. he got ahead, but it was only by stepping on you. We’ve been told that that’s how you succeed. And some choose to believe it. But I know they’re wrong. So, as you prepare to take this big leap into real life, here’s a little advice, if you’re willing to listen to a frog. Rather than jumping over someone to get what you want, consider reaching out your hand and taking the leap side by side. Because, life is better when we leap together.

And that brings me to my final point: Making connections. Now, right now many of you are trying to make career connections and networking connections and are applying for jobs and grad schools and quietly panicking about rent and loans and the price of eggs. Good grief. I know the past four years have brought more challenges than anyone expected. Sometimes, it can feel like the challenges just keep coming. But, but look at you. I know that you’re going to be OK because you’re here. You did it! And I think that deserves another round of applause!

Right now you’re all dressed in your caps and gowns all grown up. But your family is probably looking at you still seeing you as that little preschooler sitting crisscross applesauce, maybe learning the alphabet from my friend Big Bird on Sesame Street. And, for you, that was a lifetime ago. But for them probably feels like yesterday.

Which brings me to one really important connection that I got to mention and that’s the one that you share with your parents or your family or the special people who helped you get here today. And you all know who they are. A lot of them, they’re probably here right now. And some of them they might not be, but, trust me, you’re still connected to them. You really are. And that’s the thing about love: It sticks with you even when you’re apart. So, let’s give all of those connections a round of applause, too.

Because, if I know a thing, it’s important to stay connected to your loved ones, stay connected to your friends, and most of all stay connected to your dreams. No matter how big. No matter how impossible they seem. The truth is dreams are how we figure out where we want to go. And life is how we get there. So, graduates, I see you. I see you out there. And I know that you will find your people. I know that you’re going to take big leaps and I know that even though
you’re about to throw your caps in the air — good luck finding ’em again — I know that you will stay connected, to your families, your friends and your dreams. Because, life’s like a movie. Write your own ending. Keep believing. Keep pretending. You’ve all done just what you set out to do. And you’re just getting started!

Oh, and the music’s getting started, too, which means my speech is coming to an end. But, before I go, maybe I could get you all to sing along with me? Here we go:

Why are there so many songs about rainbows?
And what’s on the other side?
Rainbows are visions, but only illusions.
And rainbows have nothing to hide.
So we’ve been told, and some choose to believe it.
I know they’re wrong; wait and see.
Someday we’ll find it, the rainbow connection.
The lovers, the dreamers and me!

Thank you! Thank you, University of Maryland! Thank you for having me and congratulations to the class of 2025! Yay!

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: This is a beautiful place. I’ve been here many times, going to high school, not so far away. A good place, also a military academy.

Not quite of this distinction, but it was a lot of fun for me. I just want to say hello, cadets, and on behalf of our entire nation, let me begin by saying congratulations to the West Point Class of 2025. You are winners, every single one of you.

Thank you. And now we want you to relax, and I’m supposed to say at ease, but you’re already at ease, because you’ve made a great choice in what you’re doing. Your choices in life have been really amazing.

So this is a celebration, and let’s have a little fun. I want to thank your highly respected superintendent, General Stephen Guillen, and he is really something. I got to know him backstage with his beautiful family, and his reputation, his wife is just incredible.

His reputation is unbelievable, and thank you very much. Your daughter is a winner also, just like everybody. Thank you.

I also want to thank Commandant General R.J. Garcia, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, Army Chief of Staff General Randy George, Senator Ashley Moody, Representatives Steve Womack, Bill Huizenga, Pat Ryan, Mark Green, Keith Self, Acting U.S. Attorney Alina Hava, and very much just all of the friends and family. We have a lot of friends in the audience today, and I just want to thank them all for being here. We have a tremendous amount of my friends.

They wanted to come up, and they wanted to watch the ceremony, and they wanted to watch you much more so than me. So I just want to thank so many people here. Over the past four years, an extraordinary group of professors, teachers, coaches, leaders, and warriors have transformed this class of cadets into an exceptional group of scholars and soldiers.

So let’s give the entire group, the entire West Point faculty and staff, for their incredible love of you and outstanding devotion to the Corps. Let’s give them a little hand. And importantly, we can’t forget all of those people beaming with pride.

Look at them in the audience. They’re so proud. They’re in the stands.

So thank your parents, your grandparents, and family members who made this all possible for you. Thank you. They must have done something right based on what I’m looking at.

America loves our military moms and dads. Nearly one-third of the cadets graduating today are themselves the children of veterans. So to everyone with us this morning who served America in uniform, no matter your age, please stand so we can salute you, sir, because we’d like to see who you are.

We should savor this morning because this is a day you will never, ever forget. In a few moments, you will become graduates of the most elite and historic military academy in human history, and you will become officers in the greatest and most powerful army the world has ever known. And I know because I rebuilt that army, and I rebuilt the military.

And we rebuilt it like nobody has ever rebuilt it before in my first step. Your experience here at West Point has been anything but easy. Looking out at all of you today, I can proudly say, mission accomplished.

Great job. But now you have to go on. You have to forget that, because now you have another.

It’s a sad thing, isn’t it? You can’t rest on your laurels no matter what. You just have to keep going. You take a little day off, and you go on to the rest.

Because you have to have victory after victory after victory, and that’s what you’re going to have as you receive your commissions as second lieutenants. Each of you continues down the same hallowed path walked by titans and legends of U.S. military law, giants like Ulysses S. Grant, John Blackjack Hershey, Dwight David Eisenhower, the one and only Douglas MacArthur. Old blooded guts George Patton, and storming Norman Schwarzenegger.

Old blooded. So many more. They, countless other patriots before you have walked out of these halls and strayed into history, and today you officially join those immortal heroes in a proud ranks of the Long Gray Line.

You know that term. So beautiful. The Long Gray Line.

Among the 1,000 cadets graduating today, 26 of you wear the prestigious star ring signifying the highest level of academic achievement. Please stand up. 26.

Let’s see if somebody stands who shouldn’t be standing. This class includes an incredible four Rhodes Scholars. Stand up, that’s four.

That’s tied for the most of any West Point class since 1959. Congratulations. Boy, oh boy, oh boy, I don’t want to have them go too far away from me.

Eight cadets here today took on the challenge of designing their own hypersonic rocket. I don’t know if we could use you building them right now. You know, we had ours stolen.

We are the designer of it. We had it stolen during the Obama administration. They stole it.

You know who stole it? The Russians stole it. Something bad happened. But we’re now, we’re the designer of it.

We’re now building them. Lots of them. And earlier this year, they launched it into space, setting a world record for aperture rocket.

They can’t get you in there fast enough. 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. Cadet Chris Verdugo completed the task in two hours and 30 minutes flat, smashing the international record for the competition by 13 minutes.

Where is he? Where is he? Come up here. Come up here, Chris. Get up here.

Wow. Come here. By 13 minutes.

Come here, Chris. It’s been a long five years, but I couldn’t have done it without you guys. Love you.

Keep it going, Chris. That really is the definition of Army’s strongest in the international. The first woman in West Point history to complete Niagara School of Cadets, Megan Cooper and Clara Sabre.

Where are you? Stand up. Where are they? Wow. Great job.

That is not easy. Congratulations, Megan and Clara. That’s a job well done.

Thank you very much. Some of you achieved a different kind of distinction here at the academy, including century men who completed 100 hours of marching for disciplinary. Oh, no.

Infraction. No. Oh, I’m so sorry.

Would you like to stand up? I think I saw Chris standing up. Chris, what’s going on? I can’t believe Chris is standing up. But we want everyone to leave here today, Chris, so you’re going to be okay because you’re going to do something with a clean slate.

So keeping with tradition, I hereby pardon all cadets on restriction for minor conduct offenses effective immediately. So you’re all good. The class of 2025 is a lot to be proud of, including your first great athletes in athletics.

You are something. I’ve been watching you too. I love the sports stuff.

What you’ve done is pretty amazing. Last year, for the first time ever, Army lacrosse became the number one ranked men’s lacrosse team in the entire country. Those of you on the team, stand.

That’s a big honor. Stand. It’s a tough sport, too.

That’s number one in the country. Your sophomore year, Army football beat Navy 2017. And the next year, you did it again, beating Navy 17-11 and dominating Air Force 23-3.

But this year, the Black Knights fought their way into the top 20 nationally and racked up your longest winning streak since 1949 with the help of graduating quarterback cadet Bryson Daly, or as you call him, Captain of the Merc. Captain of the Merc. Stand up, Bryson.

We gotta get him up here, right? Come on, Bryson. I heard you. I heard you.

You said, well, I can do it again, can’t I? I said, yeah. He can get it today, I don’t care. But he chose this life, and you know I want to keep hitting it.

Come on up here, Bryson. Come on up. Wow.

Go Army football. Shout out to the Hawks. Thanks, Troy.

Can’t wait to graduate. Love you guys. Captain’s show was like a hit piece of steel.

That was a good show. There’s always a reason for success. Thank you, Bryson.

At a time when other top college quarterbacks were thinking about going pro, Bryson’s mind was on something else. He told the interviewer earlier this year, I’m focused on my career as an infantry officer. That’s what he wants to do.

Each of you on the field today is among the most talented members of your generation. You could have done anything you wanted. You could have gone anywhere.

You could have gone to any school. This is one of the hardest schools to get into. And writing your own record to top jobs on the Wall Street is so good.

I don’t think it would be made, but I think what you do is better. Instead of sports teams, spreadsheets, and so on, he chose a life of service, very important service, instead of stock options. And I do that sometimes.

It’s sort of boring. Compared to what you do, it’s a little boring. He chose honor and he chose sacrifice.

Instead of business suits, fresh shoes, he chose muddy boots and fatigues, keeping himself in shape. Because West Point cadets don’t just have the brightest minds, they also have the brightest hearts and the noblest souls of the nation’s people. I could not be more proud to serve you as your commander-in-chief, and our country is doing well.

We’ve turned the round very quickly. We’ve turned the round. I just got back from the Middle East.

And as you know, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE. And I will tell you, they said, all three leaders, great leaders of those three nations, they all said the same thing. The United States of America is hotter now than we’ve ever seen.

And a year ago, it was as cold as it gets. And it’s true. It’s true.

We have the hottest country in the world and the whole world is talking about it. It’s an honor for all of us. I could not wait to see the glory that it is still ahead.

However, for the West Point class of 2025, 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. All the victories that you’ve had together in these rounds will soon pale in comparison to the momentous feats that you’ll perform on the mission you’re accepting today as the future leader of America’s army. And we have that army.

We have more than just one trillion dollar military budget, General. One trillion. Some people say, could you get it back? I said, I’m not getting $0.10. This is another thing we can cut.

We can cut money on it right then. We can cut money on it when we have the command here. It’s a very different warfare out there today.

They’ve introduced a thing called drone. A drone is a little bit different. It makes you have to go back and do a whole new form of warfare.

You’re going to do it better than anybody else or anyone close. Generation after generation of men, women in the army have done whatever it takes to defend their flag, pouring out their blood into the fields of battle all over the world. And all over the world, they’re respected like nobody is respected.

Our soldiers have sprinted through storms of bullets, clouds of crap, slogged through miles of barren oceans of sand, scaled towering cliffs of jagged rock. And time and time again, the American soldiers charged into the fires of hell and sent the devil racing in full retreat. No task has ever been too tough for the American Army.

And now that 250-year legacy of glory and triumph belongs to you, the 1,000 U.S. officers of the greatest fighting force in the history of the world, that’s what you are, that’s what you become. Again, you are the first West Point graduates of the Golden Age of America. This is the golden age.

And you are going to lead the army to summits of greatness that has never reached before. You see that. You see what’s happening.

You see what’s going on in the world. Each of you is entering the office of coroner, defining moment of your decision. For at least two decades, two political leaders from both parties have dragged our military into missions it was never meant to be.

It wasn’t meant to be. People would say, why are we doing this? Why are we wasting our time, money, and souls in some ways? They sent our warriors on nation-building crusades to nations that wanted nothing to do with us, led by leaders that didn’t have a clue in distant lands, while abusing our soldiers with absurd ideological experiments, here and at home. All of that’s ended.

You know that. All of it’s ended. And it is strongly ended.

And now you do not have to think about it anymore. They subjected the armed forces to all manner of social prejudice and political causes, while leaving our borders undefended and depleting our skills to fight for other countries’ borders. But we didn’t fight for our own border, but now we do, like we have never fought before.

But under the Trump administration, those days are over. We’re getting rid of these distractions and we’re focusing our military on its core mission, crushing America’s adversaries, killing America’s enemies, and defending our great American flag like it has never been defended before. The job of the U.S. armed forces is not to host grand shows, to transform foreign cultures, or to spread democracy to everybody around the world at the point of a gun.

The military’s job is to dominate any flow and annihilate any threat to America, anywhere, anytime, and anyplace. A big part of that job is to be respected again, and you are, as of right now, respected more than any army anywhere in the world. And when that’s happening, I can tell you, you are respected like nobody can believe.

As President, I am assured your focus is on our core national interests. My preference will always be to make peace and seek partnership, even with countries where our differences may be profound. As you know, we’re working on a lot of things right now.

When I left office four years ago, we had no wars, we had no problems, we had nothing but success. We had the most incredible economy, the single greatest economy for a president in history. I think we’re repeating this guy by a lot growing up, but we had something going on very special.

And if the United States retaliates on a threat to attack the army, we’ll obliterate our opponents with overwhelming strength and devastating force. That’s why my administration has begun a colossal buildup of the United States Armed Forces. A buildup like we’ve never had before.

Peace through strength, you know the term, I’ve used it a lot. Because as much as you want to fight, I’d rather do it without having to fight. I just want to look at them and have them fall.

And that’s happening. And I’ve approved a $1 trillion investment. And that will be again the largest ever in the history of our country.

And we are buying new airplanes, brand new beautiful planes, redesigned planes, brand new planes, totally stealth planes. I own this stuff. I own that whole stealth thing.

I’m the one who can communicate freely this way. They don’t see it, but the other way they see it, I’m not so sure. That’s what they tell me.

We have the best tanks anywhere in the world. We’re going to start shipbuilding again. We used to build a ship a day.

Now we don’t build them anymore. A lot of people didn’t know much about getting things built, but that’s all I’ve done in my life is build. And we have the best missiles, we already have drones, and much, much more.

We’re early this week. I think you’ll like this, I ask that we are officially building all of America, made in America, designed in America. We’re the only ones that can do it because we’re the only ones with the great technology.

We’re building the golden dome missile defense shield to protect our homeland and to protect West Point from attack. And it will be completed before I leave office. And you wouldn’t think this, but our enemies are very unhappy about it.

They’ve been hearing, they’ve been reading, why are they doing that, why? Well, we’re doing it because we want to be around for a long time, that’s why we’re doing it. We’re also restoring the fundamental principle and central purpose of our military is to protect our own borders from invasion. Our country was invaded for the last four years, and they’ve allowed people to come into our country that shouldn’t be here.

Criminals walk in, no vetting, no checking, no nothing. Where are they coming from? And they were taking people out of prisons, they were taking gang members, they were taking the mentally insane and allowing them to come in, and we’re getting them out of our country. They have no choice.

We’re getting them out and bringing them back where they came from. No choice. And it’s not easy.

It’s not easy. But hopefully the courts will allow us to continue. You know, we had a great election.

The victory was November 5th. We won the popular vote by millions of votes. We won all seven swing states.

We won everything. We won 2,750 districts against 505. 2,750 against 505.

We had a great mandate, and it gives us the right to do what we want to do to make our country great again, and that’s what we’re going to do. On day one, I deployed our military to the southern border, and since that day, we’ve reduced the number of illegal border crossings where there used to be hundreds of thousands of people coming into our country a day. We had nobody come in in the last week and a half.

We were at 99.999%. 99.999, think again. I was with the help of our military. We had one person come in.

One. You know why? You get very sick. We brought him to a hospital.

One person. And to that, please don’t hold me responsible, but that’s okay. They did the right thing.

Gone are the days where defending every nation but our own was the primary thought. But we are putting America first. We have to put America first.

We have to rebuild and defend our nation. And very shortly, you’re going to see a nation better than it’s ever been. And you see that with the trade.

The years we’ve been ripped off by every nation in the world are a trade. We’ve been ripped off at the NATO level. We’ve been ripped off like no country has ever been ripped off.

And you see, you have to watch what we’re doing in Canada. I know it’s not your primary thing, but it’s quite important to all of us. But watch.

You’ll see what’s going on. We’ve been reading about it over the last few days. We’re making deals with other nations that were not even, nobody thought it would be even possible.

And the reason is very simple. They respect us again. They’re respecting our country again just as we were.

And everything we do, we are bringing common sense back to America. It’s all about common sense. We can say we’re liberal, conservative.

The new words progressive don’t like to use the word liberal anymore. That’s why I call them liberal. But whatever you are right now, most importantly, you have to have common sense.

Because most of it’s, in general, most of it’s about common sense is what you’ve been brought down to. And we have a lot of people with a lot of, a lot of very smart people, but they have to have common sense. We’ve liberated our dreams from divisive and demeaning political trends.

There will be no more critical race theory or trends agenda for everybody forced on to operate men and women in uniform work on anybody else’s land. And we will not have men playing in women’s sports, if that’s okay. I mean, I wouldn’t want to have to tackle, as an example, Bryson as a man, but I don’t think a lot of women want to tackle him.

I don’t think so. So ridiculous, so demeaning, so demeaning to women. And it’s over.

That’s over. We’ve ended it. And promotions and appointments will not be based on politics or identity.

They’ll be based on merit. And what that means is the Supreme Court has said we’re allowed to go back to a system of merit. We’re a merit-based country.

Recruiting shortfalls. Just last year was the worst of all. The last year of the Biden administration.

We couldn’t get anybody to join our military. We couldn’t get anybody to join our police. And then right now, just less than a year later, we just set a brand-new peacetime recruiting record.

Most people join, and we are brimming with confidence and we’re brimming with people. We had the most best recruiting month that we’ve had in memory. Nobody remembers anything like it.

And that’s all because they have spirit now. They have spirit. They have spirit for our country.

And now everybody wants to be doing what we’re doing. Think of that. Well, it’s really a great honor.

And I’m pleased to report that by next week, the Army is expected to surpass its recruiting targets for the entire year, something that hasn’t happened in 28 years where we’ve had that. So, that’s a pretty good honor. And it’s nice to know that you’re doing something that everybody wants to do.

Isn’t that really nice? Listen, I hate to hear that. During the campaign, I was hearing that you couldn’t get people to enlist. And that made me sad because you’re telling so many people, I’m sorry we let you do it.

My administration is doing everything possible to forge the most powerful military ever built. But ultimately, the task of keeping America strong and safe in the years ahead is going to belong to you. Among you are the lieutenants, majors, colonels, and generals who will lead the Army for the next 10, 20, 30, and even 40 years.

So, as Commander-in-Chief, let me offer a few words of advice as you begin your Army careers. I thought I’d do this and I can make this to a civilian audience or to a military audience. It’s pretty much the same thing.

And I did this recently at Ohio State. And they really liked it. They gave a little advice as to what I see for what you want to do and some tips.

And first of all, you’ve already done it. You’re different from civilians that are making the decision right now. You’re already making the decision.

You have to do what you love. You have to do what you love. If you don’t love it, you’ll never be successful at it.

And you’ve done this. And really, many of you in the audience, many of you that are graduating, you’ve come from military backgrounds where you love the military. It’s what you want to do.

It’s what you want to talk about. One thing I see about people that love the military, that’s all they want to talk about. I’ll be out to dinner.

Generals, if they love their job, usually the only good ones are the ones that want to talk about it all the time. But if that’s what they want to talk about, I really, really, very rarely see somebody successful that doesn’t love what he or she does. You have to love what you do.

In your case, the military is what you chose. And I’ll tell you what, you did not go. You didn’t see it through.

You worked more and more time. You know, I work all the time. It’s all I do is work, whether it’s politically or before that.

I was a very good businessman occasionally. But it was good because I loved it. I loved it.

I learned from my father a little bit. My father was a happy guy. And all he did was work.

He’d work Saturdays, Sundays. He’d work all the time. And he was a happy guy.

Just loved life. And I learned that. I said, you know, it makes you happy.

I’ve seen other people that never work and they’re not happy. You’ve got to love it. Otherwise, you won’t be successful in the Army.

There are a lot of different paths you can take. So follow your instincts and make sure that you take the path that you love, that you’re doing something that you love within your military. You will be happier in the Army.

You will be far stronger for it. Second is to think big. Always think big.

If you’re going to do something, you might as well think big, do it big, because it’s just as tough and sometimes it’s a lot easier thinking big than doing the small task that’s more difficult. One of your greatest graduates, General Eisenhower, used to say, whenever I run into a problem that I can’t solve, I always like to make it bigger to solve it and solve more of it. If you go to solve a problem, it might as well be a big problem as opposed to a small problem that lots of people can take advantage of and solve.

So you can achieve something really amazing, think big. Third, though, you’ve got to do this with great power you have to have, potential you have to have, but to be real successful, you’re always going to have to work hard. An example is a great athlete, Gary Player, great golfer.

He wasn’t as big as the other men that were playing against him, great big strong guys. Gary was a smaller guy. I don’t want to even say just a little bit, but he was a 90-gram baby boy.

Because he hit the ball just as hard, he said, I hit the ball further than them, why am I small? But he worked very, very hard. He was always doing exercise. He was always doing well ahead of his time.

He never stopped. He won 168 youth tournaments. He won 18 majors, 9 regular and 9 in the senior tour, 18 with 168.

That’s the most tournaments he ever won. But he made a statement a few years ago and I heard it. He’s the first one I think I’ve heard a couple of times since, but he was the first.

He said it’s funny, the harder I work, the luckier I get. And think of that, the harder I work, the luckier I get. You work hard, you work hard, the harder you work, the luckier you get.

Fourth is, don’t lose your momentum. Momentum is an amazing thing. I tell the story sometimes about a man who was a great, great real estate man.

It was a man who was admired for real estate all over the world actually, but all over the country. He built 11 towns. He started as a man who built one house, then he built two, then he built five, then he built 20, then he built 1,000, then he built 2,000, 3,000 a year.

And he got very big, very big. He’s the greatest one he did. You see him all over the country, still 11 towns.

This was a long time ago, but he was the first of the really, really big home builders. And he became very rich. He became a very rich man.

And then he decided to sell. He was offered a lot of money by a big conglomerate, Gulf of Western, big conglomerate. They didn’t do real estate.

They didn’t know anything about it, but they saw the money he was making, they wanted to take the public company. And they gave him a lot of money, tremendous amount of money, more money than he ever thought he had. And he sold his company, and he had nothing to do.

He ended up getting a divorce, found a new wife. Could you say a trophy wife? I guess we could say a trophy wife. It didn’t work out too well.

And if that doesn’t work out too well, I must tell you, a lot of trophy wives doesn’t work out. But it made him happy for a little while at least. But he found a new wife.

He sold his little boat. He got a big yacht. He had one of the biggest yachts anywhere in the world.

He moved for a time to Monte Carlo, and he lived a good life. And time went by and he got bored. And 15 years later, the company that he sold to called to him, and they said, the housing business is not for us.

You have to understand, we’re going to lose hot when we get momentum. He’d go to the job sites every night and pick up every loose nail. He’d pick up every scrap of wood.

If there was a bolt or a screw link in the ground, he’d pick it up and they’d use it the next day and put it in the other house. But now he was spoiled, and he was rich, he was really rich. And they called him, and they said, this isn’t for us.

Would you like to buy it back yourself, back to your team? And they did. He bought it. He bought it.

He thought he made a great deal, and he was all excited. But it was 15 years later, he lost a lot of momentum. Remember the word momentum.

And he lost everything. It just didn’t work. He lost everything.

And I was sitting at a party with a family one night, a long time ago. And yet the biggest people in New York, the biggest people in the country were all in that party, and they were all saluting each other. How great they were, and they were all telling each other, I’m greater than you, because you really, because you’re heavy sometimes.

But they had all these people that were telling their own stories about how fantastic a cocktail party, and I looked over, and I was doing well. I was an underdog. I was invited to the party, so I had to be doing well.

I was very, very young. But I made a name for myself. I looked over, and I had the party sitting in the corner all by myself.

Nobody was talking to me. It was just 11. He had just gotten angry and lost everything.

He lost everything. His home, everything. And I went over and talked to him, because he was in the real estate business, and I had a lot of real estate, and I said, hello, Mr. Donald, how are you? He said, hello, Donald, it’s nice to meet you.

He knew me from being in the business. I said, so how’s it going? He goes, not well. It’s really not going well, as you probably read.

It’s been very, very tough for me, son. And I said, so what happened? Is there anything you can do? He goes, no, there’s not a thing I can do. He said, I’ll never forget.

He said, I’ve lost my momentum. I just didn’t have it. I used to have it, but I lost my momentum.

So it’s a story to tell, and you have to know when you have the momentum, but sometimes you have to also know when you’ve lost the momentum. And leaving a field, sometimes leaving what you’re doing sometimes is okay, but you’ve got to have momentum, but you have to know when that momentum is gone. You have to know when to say it’s time to get out.

And it’s a very sad story. I remember that story so well, like it was yesterday. Fifth, you have to have the courage to take risks and to do things differently.

Eisenhower again was threatened with court-martials as a young officer for advocating a new doctrine of tank warfare. Billy Mitchell was thrown out of the Army for pioneering the use of air power. This is what he did with air power.

Don’t be ridiculous. People were willing to try and do things differently. It’s never going to be easy for them, but they’re the ones that are going to really do the important things.

They’re the ones who are going to make history. So don’t be ashamed, and don’t be afraid. This is a time of incredible change, and we do not need an officer corps of guerrillas and the FN, and people that want to keep it going the way it’s been, because it changes rapidly, especially what you’re doing.

Because believe it or not, you’re in a business, a profession, where things change rapidly like warfare, the type of warfare. Unfortunately, we get to see it with Russia and Ukraine, and we’re studying it, and it’s a very terrible thing to study. But we’re seeing the different forms of warfare.

We’re seeing the drones that are coming down at angles, with speed, with precision. We’ve never seen anything like it, and we’re learning from it. But your profession changes very rapidly.

You’ve got to be at the top of it. You’ve got to be right at the head of the deal. We need patriots with guts and vision, backbone to take personal risks to ensure that America wins.

Every single time, we want to win our battles. And I defeated ISIS in three weeks. They told me it would take five years.

And the general that did it, you know that story, was named Race to Cain. His name is Dan Cain. His nickname was Race to Cain.

I said, your name is Race to Cain. I love that. Is that a nickname? That’s what they call me, sir.

I love you, General. I think you’re the guy I’m looking for. I want to know if my name is Race to Cain.

He is now the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and I respect the man. And we defeated ISIS. They said, how long in Washington? Sir, it will take four years to defeat them, maybe five.

And maybe we won’t, because they don’t want to put a price on us. And then I met a man who said we could do it in three weeks, and we did it in three weeks. And that’s why he’s the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff right now.

And we did things that nobody thought were possible. We had great military success. When you have the right people, you’re going to have tremendous success.

Six, never lose your faith in America and the American people, because they’re always going to be there for you. I went through a very tough time with some very radicalized, sick people. And I say I was investigated more than the great, great Alphonse Capone.

Alphonse Capone was a monster. He was a very hard criminal. I went through more investigations than Alphonse Capone.

And now I’m talking to you as president. Can you believe this? Can you believe it? So you’ve got to fight hard. You’re going to never give up.

And don’t let bad people take you down. And let them, you’re going to take them down. And a lot of bad people out there.

Those people you have to figure out. But you also have a lot of great people. And finally, hold on to your culture and your traditions, because that’s what makes something really great.

And that’s what’s made the Army great. The culture and the tradition. Whether we’re talking about attacking a business, a sports team, or even a nation, history has shown that in many ways culture is destiny.

So do not let anyone destroy the culture of winning. You have to win. Winning is a beautiful thing.

Losing, not for us, not for anybody here, but what you would be here. From the earliest days of our nation, this supreme tradition of American military service has been passed down from soldier to soldier and generation to generation. It’s a beautiful thing to watch.

Graduating today is to get Ricky McMahon, Ricky’s great-grandfather. Stand up wherever you are if you feel like this. Ricky’s great-grandfather served in World War I, his grandfather served in World War II, and his uncle, father, and mother all graduated from West Point.

Where is Ricky? In 2004, when Ricky was just a little… His dad, Lt. Col. Michael McMahon, made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation in Afghanistan.

Today, Lt. Col. McMahon rests on a farm here in the West Point Cemetery.

Ricky McMahon, last year two decades after losing his father, Ricky Blasey, gold chip from his dad’s 1985 class ring into a crucible-long 87 of the rings were with him, a patch of West Point rags that were melted down to forge those now worn by the Class of 1945. Do you know what they were? I want one. Ricky, I want one.

Each of you will carry Michael’s memory with you always as you continue the legacy he gave you and gave you, something that would be so proud, he is proud as he looks down. Ricky and his mom, Jeanette, knew of Bobby, what this place is all about, and I know Michael. He’s up there, he’s smiling broadly, he’s so proud.

He’s so proud of you, Jeanette, you know that. And as a man, it couldn’t be any easier, a man that couldn’t be more proud. I just love that story.

Everybody’s ring, they’re going to remember you, they’re going to remember your family, and most importantly, you’re going to remember a great tradition. It’s a great tradition of West Point and of the winners. Thank you very much, it’s great to meet you.

If you want to come up, come on, come on. Come on. That’s nice.

You’re a handsome guy. They’re all going to love you, I don’t know what’s coming. The whole crowd is beautiful.

Thank you very much. I’d like to thank my mother, I’d like to thank my family, and I’d like to thank G3 Dogovers. These are good looking people, I’ll tell you, what’s going on? But two and a half centuries of republic is endured because of heroes like Michael, who laid down their lives for America, and because of young people like all of them.

One saved by an unbroken chain of soldiers and vanguards who ran to the sound of the guns left into the maw of battle, and charged into the crucible of fire to seize the ground of victory, 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. From Seminary Ridge to San Juan Hill, Doublewood, Omaha Beach, Lake Tate Gulf, Arden Forest, Joseph, Reservoir Hollow, and even a place called Orchard Hill.

And in all of those battles and so many more, some of the best riders 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, America’s Army has never failed us, and with leaders like the West Point Class of 2025, the Army will never fail. We will never let you down.

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 said, sir, we’re celebrating the victory today of World War II. And I said, wow, that’s nice. And I’d call another one, unrelated, sir, we’re celebrating the victory of World War II.

And I’d call a president of France or something, also unrelated. He said, sir, we’re celebrating our victory over World War II. And I’ve had this Russian, Dr. Putin, about India, terrible war that’s gone on, and he said they had a big victory march, and they did lose as many as 51 million people.

But they were all celebrating. The only country that wasn’t celebrating was the United States of America. Isn’t that amazing? We were the ones that won the war, and we were helped.

We were helped. In some cases, we had to help them. But we were helped by some of the nations, and we were strongly helped by a couple of them.

But every one of them was celebrating that victory day. They called it Victory Day here or Victory Day there. And we weren’t even thought about.

Nobody had a Victory Day, so I named that special day and another special day from now on as a holiday, but a holiday where we work, because we don’t have enough days. We’re going to be having so many holidays, we’re not going to be able to work anymore. But I named it the World War II, and a separate day in November to now, the World War I. I said, you know, all these countries that participated in the war are celebrating, but the greatest country of all, and the country that won the war, nobody even talked about.

And so what did we talk about? We won the First World War, we won the Second World War, and you know where we won them from? Right here at West Point. West Point won the war, they won two World Wars, and plenty of other things. We don’t want to have the Third World War, but we won the First World War, we won the Second World War, right here at West Point.

And that’s something, and we’re going to be talking about it. You know, they can talk about it, and in some cases, as you know, they didn’t do too much to help. They were ground down, but they were celebrating.

No, we’re going to celebrate, because we’re the ones that won that war. I’m standing before you today, I know that you will never stop, you will never quit, you will never give, you will never tire, you will never, ever, ever surrender, never give up, remember that, never give up. It’s another little factor in your head, never, ever give up.

Raise your right hand. I pledge I will never, ever give up. You can never give up.

You can never give up. If you do, you’re not going to be successful, because you’ll go through things that will be negative, great moments, you’re going to have bad moments, you’re going to have to give up. And you will fight, fight, fight, and win, win, win.

So I want to just congratulate you all, I’m going back now, to deal with Russia, to deal with China, and to get you lots of victories. We’re going to keep winning, this country is going to keep winning, and with you, the job is done. Congratulations to the class of 2025.

God bless you all. Thank you very much, everybody.

“Swamp Wisdom vs. Swamp Politics: A Commencement Clash”

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