President Donald Trump honored fallen troops and Gold Star families during a Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday.
“This morning, we pay tribute to their immortal deeds. We share in the sorrow of their beloved families, and as one nation, we give thanks for the ultimate gift they have so selflessly given to all of us,” Trump said during his address.
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“These warriors picked up the mantle of duty and service, knowing that to live for others meant always that they might die for others. They asked nothing. They gave everything. And we owe them everything and more,” he added.
Trump participated in the ceremonial wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier prior to his address. He was joined by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine, each of whom spoke prior to the president. Both Hegseth and Vance are veterans of the global war on terrorism.
The president delivered a mostly scripted speech at the cemetery, though he at one point took a veiled shot at his predecessor.
“Their valor gave us the freest, greatest, and most noble republic ever to exist on the face of the Earth, a republic that I am fixing after a long and hard four years. That was a hard four years we went through,” Trump said of the Biden administration. “Who would let that happen? People pouring through our borders unchecked, people doing things that are indescribable and not for today to discuss.”
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Earlier on Monday, Trump posted on Truth Social about the commemoration, calling Joe Biden an “incompetent president” over the crisis at the southern border.
“HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY TO ALL, INCLUDING THE SCUM THAT SPENT THE LAST FOUR YEARS TRYING TO DESTROY OUR COUNTRY THROUGH WARPED RADICAL LEFT MINDS, WHO ALLOWED 21,000,000 MILLION PEOPLE TO ILLEGALLY ENTER OUR COUNTRY, MANY OF THEM BEING CRIMINALS AND THE MENTALLY INSANE, THROUGH AN OPEN BORDER THAT ONLY AN INCOMPETENT PRESIDENT WOULD APPROVE,” he wrote.