Trump tells Coast Guard graduates to 'never surrender'
· UPIMay 20 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump delivered the commencement address Wednesday at the Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut, telling graduates that they'll be tested but to "never surrender."
"Wherever the duty calls, whatever danger comes your way, you will fight, fight, fight, and you will win, win, win," the president said.
Trump also spoke at the academy's graduation in 2017, during his first term. The speech Wednesday comes at a time involving multiple concerns for newly commissioned military officers such as the Coast Guard grads. The United States is involved in a conflict with Iran that includes a U.S. blockade against Iranian ports, and Trump praised the Coast Guard's role in that Wednesday as well as citing its role in his administration's anti-drug and border enforcement activities.
He told the graduates that their branch of the military is seeing more action than it has in years and that it's "an incredible, exciting time for our nation."
"With your help, we're reasserting one of the most time-honored principles of our national security, that American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will not be threatened under any circumstance," Trump said. "From the Gulf of America to the frozen waters of the Arctic, from the shores of Havana to the banks of the Panama Canal, we will drive out the forces of lawlessness and crime and foreign encroachment, just like we've been doing."
He said again that Iran conflict will end soon and repeated his assertion that Iran will not get a nuclear weapon.
"The only question is: Are we going to go in and finish it up, or are they going to be signing a document?" Trump said of Iran.
The president said Monday that he'd postponed new U.S.military strikes on Iran and that talks were progressing but did not offer anydetails.
Trump also criticized earlier presidential administrations in his speech and said that under his watch, "we don't apologize for American power or wealth" but wield it to pursue the United States' "glorious destiny and our beautiful American dream."
Vice President JD Vance will deliver the commencement address next week at the United States Air Force Academy.
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President Donald Trump turns to photographers in the press pool after greeting guests during the Congressional Picnic on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday. Photo by Samuel Corum/UPI | License Photo