NEW LONDON, Conn.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0President Trump told the U.S. Coast Guard Academy\u2019s graduates on Wednesday that they show \u201cunbelievable heroism and exceptional selflessness\u201d but that the cadets will \u201cbe tested further\u201d as they embark on their military careers. <\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s remarks to the class of 2026 were the first time he has given a commencement address at one of the nation\u2019s military academies after sending U.S. troops to fight a new war. <\/p>\n
He told the cadets that they will be America\u2019s \u201cfirst defenders\u201d and \u201cfirst responders.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve all been tested. You\u2019ll be tested further and probably at higher levels as your career goes on,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
During his address, Trump quickly touched on the war with Iran, now in its 12th week, as a sign of U.S. success from \u201cthe hottest country anywhere in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only question is, do we go ahead and finish it up or are they going to be signing a document? Let\u2019s see what happens,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
The Republican president had threatened to launch renewed strikes on Iran this week as talks with Tehran seemed to have stalled and a fragile ceasefire appeared to be teetering. But Trump on Monday said he was giving Iran a few more days because \u201cserious negotiations\u201d were underway.<\/p>\n
He has not offered details and has in the past backed away from following through on threats to Iran, citing breakthroughs in talks that have not publicly materialized.<\/p>\n
Earlier Wednesday, he told reporters that he\u2019s \u201cin no hurry\u201d to strike a deal to wrap up the war because of political concerns and the November midterm elections. <\/p>\n
The commencement was held on a day with scorching heat and there was little shade available as the crowd waited for the ceremony to begin. <\/p>\n
At least one person required medical attention after passing out. Others pleaded with organizers for elderly attendants to sit in the shade under tents. Chilled water bottles were distributed freely but quickly became warm.<\/p>\n
Trump, who spoke at the academy\u2019s graduation in 2017 during his first term, said he was proud to be the first president to give two commencement addresses at the school.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to have to try it maybe a third time, too, to keep that record intact,\u201d Trump said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The president and vice president traditionally speak at one of the military service academies every year. Vice President JD Vance is set to give the commencement address on May 28 at the U.S. Air Force Academy.<\/p>\n
Before he flew to Connecticut, Trump told reporters that his message to the cadets would be, \u201cJust enjoy your life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, you don\u2019t really realize how important Coast Guard is until you have a hurricane,\u201d Trump said as he praised the maritime service.<\/p>\n
Price and Kruesi write for the Associated Press. Price reported from Washington. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW LONDON, Conn.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0President Trump told the U.S. Coast Guard Academy\u2019s graduates on Wednesday that they show \u201cunbelievable heroism…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79175,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[44496,44495,44499,44492,44500,34,44497,44498,44493,44494,10,65,11,64,183,6636,74,3231,3030],"class_list":["post-79174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-donald-trump","tag-12th-week","tag-cadet","tag-coast-guard-graduate","tag-commencement-address","tag-elderly-attendant","tag-iran","tag-little-shade","tag-military-academy","tag-military-career","tag-new-war","tag-potus","tag-president-donald-trump","tag-president-of-the-united-states","tag-president-trump","tag-reporter","tag-talk","tag-trump","tag-vice-president","tag-wednesday"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116608122461349577","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}