Donald Trump demanded the Oscars rewrite their rulebook after an award honoring Tom Hanks was axed.
Hanks, 69, was to be honored by the alum association of the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, with its 2025 Sylvanus Thayer Award—the organization’s top civilian honor.
Trump has praised the West Point U-turn and he now wants the Oscars to make changes.
Posting on Truth Social Monday, Trump cheered, “Our great West Point (getting greater all the time!) has smartly cancelled the Award Ceremony for actor Tom Hanks.
“Important move! We don’t need destructive, WOKE recipients getting our cherished American Awards!!!”
Calling on the Academy Awards—known as the Oscars—to follow suit, which he claimed would see them become more popular with the viewing public, he added, “Hopefully the Academy Awards, and other Fake Award Shows, will review their Standards and Practices in the name of Fairness and Justice.
“Watch their DEAD RATINGS SURGE!”
The Washington Post first reported that the West Point Association of Graduates would not be honoring Hanks this year.
The Sylvanus Thayer Award honors an “outstanding citizen” who did not attend West Point but embodies “Duty, Honor, Country.”
The alumni group announced Hanks’ selection in June, praising decades of work portraying and supporting service members and veterans.
“Tom Hanks has done more for the positive portrayal of the American service member… than many other Americans,” board chair Robert McDonald said at the time.
Hanks is a longtime advocate for veterans and military heritage, from his roles in Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers to support for the Eisenhower memorial and the National WWII Museum.
He spoke at a Biden fundraiser in 2020 and hosted the Celebrating America broadcast in 2021. Whether Hanks—who has previously been critical of Trump—will still receive the medal remains unclear.
However, the Post reported that the cancellation of the ceremony at which he would have been honored followed political turbulence at the academy this year.
Jason Dempsey, an alum and former instructor, said it looked like leaders would have been “uncomfortable” in the current environment.
“It is the perfect example… of someone being good for the military but not perfectly aligned with current partisan priorities.”
There is no indication that the White House ordered the event scrapped.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Academy of Motion Picture Arts for comment.
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