President Donald Trump delivered what was a largely rambling and incoherent address before senior military leaders on Tuesday, where he bragged about ending wars, ranted about the Nobel Peace Prize, and even mentioned the “N-words.”
Trump, 79, traveled to Quantico, Virginia, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had called hundreds of general and flag officers in an unprecedented move to give a speech about the “warrior ethos” and ending wokeness.
The president’s remarks sounded more like a low-energy campaign speech full of grievances and his usual musings than one to top military brass.
At one point during his speech, Trump brought up rebuilding the U.S. nuclear arsenal when he went off on a tangent about sending a nuclear submarine to the coast of Russia in response to a threat.
The president told top generals he could not say if he sent one or two submarines, as if they were not aware of the top secret military activity, and that he called nuclear the “N-word.”
“There are two N words, and you can’t use either of them,” Trump said as if thinking aloud to himself.
The president often appeared exhausted and changed subjects mid-sentence as he stood in front of a massive American flag.
At another point, the president brought up his claim that he ended seven wars and suggested he may have solved the biggest of them all with Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. He said if Hamas did not agree to the plan announced on Monday, it would be very tough on them.
He said if it were solved, he would give himself credit for solving “eight plus” wars and suggested he would give himself credit for solving “two or three” wars for the one in Gaza.
He noted many of the top generals had been to the Middle East, which he called a big part of the earth.
At another point in his address, the president praised himself for being the 45th, 46th, and 47th president.
Trump told top generals he did not want the credit for 46, which was when President Joe Biden had won the 2020 election, but Trump said, “I like having it,” as he repeatedly denies he ever lost.
Trump also argued that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize again. He talked about how if he solved Russia’s war in Ukraine, he would have ended eight wars in eight months, noting, “That’s pretty good.”
Then he questioned, “Will you get the Nobel Prize?” as if he were speaking to himself. “Absolutely not,” he added. He said it would be a big insult to the country.
The president also complained about wanting “big, beautiful, firm paper” for signing military commissions and professed his love for its “real gold writing” at the top while signing commissions.
Trump discussed how, when military officials work their whole life to become a general or admiral, the president signs their commissions, and he gets to do that.
“Actually, I love my signature, I really do,” Trump declared.
The president then questioned the use of an autopen to sign commissions before circling back to more attacks on Biden, who he often criticizes for having used an autopen.
Overall, it was a tough audience for the president, who often feeds off energy from his many supporters. The military’s top brass was standing at attention when the president entered and thus did not applaud.
“I’ve never walked into a room so silent before,” Trump noted at the start and encouraged them, “If you want to applaud, you applaud.”
The president did receive a few laughs from the crowd at times, but his comment that they have to “loosen these guys up a little bit” did not do much to change the formal reception.
While much of the president’s speech was jumbled and darted from subject to subject, he did offer a few moments of clarity.
He told the group, who he described as “central casting,” that there was no greater honor than serving as their commander in chief.
He also said his message was “very simple,” that he was with them and has their backs 100 percent.
The president declared they were going to make the military tougher, faster, and more powerful than ever before.
But Trump’s direct on-script message was very short-lived.
He spoke about how popular it was that he had changed the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War and noted that a couple of “fake news outlets” did not follow his plan to rename the Gulf of Mexico. He attacked the Associated Press for its stance and was quick to describe the judge in the lawsuit as “liberal.”
Trump said on renaming the Defense Department that they “really want no wars,” but sometimes “you have to do it.”
At another point, the president briefly mentioned that U.S. cities are a “big part” of war now, but quickly moved on.
Trump started to praise the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities carried out by the military, but he quickly veered into repeating his attacks on CNN and its “scammer reporter” for its coverage of the strikes.
He claimed that CNN had “turned off the cameras” amid his criticisms, like the president used to claim they did when he spoke at campaign rallies.
With no transition, Trump suddenly declared the U.S. needed to “start thinking about battleships,” which got a laugh from some in the room.
Trump, who never served, went on to describe how he used to watch the black and white documentary series Victory at Sea about World War II.
“I love Victory at Sea,” Trump declared.
The post Trump Delivers Bonkers N-Word Ramble to Military Chiefs appeared first on The Daily Beast.
