President Donald Trump is scheduled to be the graduation speaker of the United States Military Academy this year on Saturday in the midst of the repression of the administration against diversity initiatives and the elimination of key military leaders.
Trump and the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, have requested important changes in the military academies since they assumed the position as part of the reversal of the programs of diversity, equity and inclusion of the administration, and these changes could take the center of the stage in Trump’s speech.
In February, shortly after Hegesh was confirmed by the Senate, West Point dissolved several student clubs, including the National Society of Black Engineers, the Society of Engineers, the Latin Cultural Club and the Native American Heritage Forum.
President Donald Trump remains and greets during the interpretation of the National Anthem of the United States while attending a state dinner at the Palacio de Lusil, on May 14, 2025, in Doha, Qatar.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
The changes were made “according to the recent presidential executive orders, the orientation of the Department of Defense and the orientation of the Department of the Army,” according to a memorandum obtained by ABC News.
Also in February, Trump, who avoided being recruited during the Vietnam War due to what he said they were bone spurs, dismissed the leadership of all military academies, claiming without evidence that schools were “infiltrated by leftist ideologues of the awakening.”
This winter, 381 books, many of which were written by black authors or discussed the history of racism, were eliminated from the libraries of the United States Naval Academy due to an order issued in a Pentagon Memorandum.
The mandatory military services were to submit and eliminate book titles from the libraries of their military educational institutions that touch the problems of diversity, race and gender using the specific search terms of the Pentagon.
All but 20 of the books that were initially eliminated were returned this week, according to school.
The former West Point teachers and other military have criticized Trump and Hegseth by orders, arguing that such programs did not inhibit the values, training and education of academies.
In this archive photo of June 13, 2020, President Donald Trump offers graduation speech at the graduation ceremony of the Military Academy of the Military Academy of 2020 in West Point, New York.
Nicholas Kamm/AFP through Getty Images, Archive
“These were shame wrote In an guest essay on May 8 at the New York Times.
“Whatever you think about several controversial ideas, Mr. Heghseth’s memorandum cited the critical theory of gender race and ideology, students must interact with them and discuss their merits instead of saying that they are too dangerous even to be contemplated,” he added.
In this photo of October 26, 2014, the West Point Military Academy campus is shown.
JOHN GREIM/LIGHTROCKET THROUGH GETTY IMAGES, ARCHIVE
According to the organizers, two protests are planned during the ceremony, one outside the door of West Point and another in the Hudson River that involves people in boats.
Trump spoke for the last time with school in 2020, and his appearance asked his health questions. It was slowly seen walking along a ramp and seemed to have problems drinking water from a glass while talking.
The president, who frequently criticized the health of his democratic opponents, ruled out criticism on a Twitter publication, now X.
“The ramp that I descended after my West Point start speech was very long & EMPINED, I had no handrail and, most importantly, it was very slippery, “he wrote, despite the fact that the weather was sunny during the ceremony.
Michelle Stoddart of ABC News contributed to this report.“
