President Donald Trump was met with countless rounds of applause during his keynote commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Saturday.

During the address, Trump touted the “Golden Age of America,” told the graduates to be proud of their accomplishments, and highlighted numerous cadets for their standout achievements.

“You are winners, every single one of you,” Trump said during the address. “You are the first West Point graduates of the Golden Age of America.”

“We’re getting rid of the distractions and focusing our military on its core mission: crushing America’s adversaries, killing America’s enemies, and defending our great American flag,” Trump continued, according to the New York Post.

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“The job of the U.S. armed forces is not to host drag shows, to transform foreign cultures, or to spread democracy to everybody around the world at the point of the gun. The military’s job is to dominate any foe and annihilate any threat to America anywhere, anytime, and anyplace,” he said.

“My preference always will be to make peace and seek partnership, even with countries with which our differences may be profound,” Trump added.

https://t.co/5tN9l40W83 @POTUS at West Point:

“This is a day you will never forget.”

He’s right.
Because under President Trump, the forgotten warriors are finally remembered.
The military is being rebuilt.
And West Point stands tall again — not as a woke experiment, but as a…

— TOMMYTATUMNEWS (@BenKaxton) May 24, 2025

Trump brought up numerous graduates to the stage during the address, including one young man who broke an international record by 13 minutes with his 18-mile march time.

“Where is he? Where is he? Come up here — come up here, Chris!” Trump shouted, eliciting loud cheers from the audience. When Trump told him to say something to the crowd, the cadet smiled and told the audience, “It’s been a long five years, but I couldn’t have done it without any of these guys.”

Screenshot: C-Span

Trump also highlighted eight cadets who “took on the challenge of designing their own hypersonic rocket.”

“Oh, we can use you,” Trump said to laughs from the audience. “We’re building them right now! … We are the designer of it, we had it stolen during the Obama administration. You know who stole it? The Russians stole it.”

Throughout the commencement address, Trump touched on politics. For example, the president referenced the Democrats’ lawfare campaign against him after he left office in 2016.

Trump said he was investigated more than mobster Al Capone. “Can you believe it? And now I’m president talking to you,” he said to loud applause.

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Related: ‘Fire Everyone In Charge’: Conservatives Blast West Point Over False Pete Hegseth Claim

The New York Times on Friday admitted that President Donald Trump “holds the levers of power” in his battle with Harvard University, which the Times added has “no way out.”

Trump is taking on Harvard over the Ivy League’s DEI (“diversity, equity, and inclusion”) policies, its handling of antisemitism on campus, and biased hiring and admissions policies. The Trump administration is working to block billions of federal dollars to Harvard, and more recently halted the university’s ability to enroll international students, though that’s been temporarily blocked by a judge.

NYT correspondent Michael Schmidt, who painted Trump negatively, admitted that the federal government holds the levers of power, since Harvard takes so much money from the feds. Notably, Trump is cracking down on the school because they won’t adjust policies the Right views as discriminatory and anti-American.

“Trump has stripped extensive federal funding from Harvard,” Schmidt explained. “Let’s say a judge gives back all of that money for this year. Half of the university’s research budget comes from the federal government. Where is Harvard going to get the money in the year after that, and the year after that? If you’re a researcher, do you want to be doing research at a school where your funding is in question?”

“Harvard finds itself in this impossible position,” the reporter continued. “The federal government has more levers to use against an institution like Harvard than certainly I had appreciated. If you are persona non grata with Trump, he’s got you by the lapels in a way that is extraordinary. And Harvard is feeling it.”

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Schmidt said that privately, Harvard is feeling the heat. “Harvard officials have privately determined they are in a major, major, major crisis with very few, if any, good off ramps,” he said.

Last year, Harvard President Claudine Gay resigned following congressional questioning over her handling of antisemitism on campus. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) blasted Harvard, and Gay specifically, for allowing the targeting of Jewish students.

“[Gay] failed to stand up for Jewish students on campus who have been facing antisemitic attacks, who have been facing physical assault,” Stefanik said in January 2024. “We’ve seen that footage. We’ve heard that directly from students on campus. We’ve also heard faculty concerns about her tenure, and her position, and her lack of academic integrity. But it really goes back to protecting Jewish students. And, frankly, when it comes to Harvard, the only time that Harvard has pled for academic freedom or freedom of speech was when it comes to the genocide of the Jewish people. That is inherently unfit for a person to be president of a university.”

Related: Elise Stefanik Says Harvard Siding With ‘Those Who Hate Jewish Students’ In Scathing Letter