WASHINGTON—Standing before the rows of white marble headstones at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on May 26, President Donald Trump marked Memorial Day by honoring the sacrifice of fallen service members.
Speaking at the cemetery’s Memorial Amphitheater, he paid tribute to the soldiers for their heroism, patriotism, devotion, and acts of selflessness “so enormous they defy comprehension.”
“We gather today to honor the incredible service members who rest in glory in this cemetery and burial grounds around the world and in a thousand lonely places known only to God,” he said.
“In every hour of peril and every moment of crisis, American warriors have left behind the blessings of home and family to answer their nation’s call.”
The 157th National Memorial Day ceremony began with the traditional wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Trump was accompanied by Vice President JD Vance, who’s a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a former U.S. Army National Guard officer who served in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
“Each of the service members who have made the supreme sacrifice for our nation has also left an unfillable void and an unbreakable sacrifice,” Trump said, honoring Gold Star families.
“We will never forget our debt to you,” Trump said in his remarks, which lasted nearly 17 minutes.
This Memorial Day holds special significance, Trump said, as it marks 250 years since the first American patriots gave their lives for independence.
“We’re going to have a big, big celebration,” he said.
Trump also joked that he was glad to have missed a second term in the 2020 election, saying that it allowed him to be president now to celebrate the 250th anniversary.
“In addition, we have the World Cup and we have the Olympics. Can you imagine? I missed that four years, and now look what I have. I have everything. Amazing, the way things work out. God did that,” Trump said, drawing laughter from the crowd.
Speaking at the event, Vance said that U.S. leaders should “treat the lives of our troops as the most precious resource.”
“The very best way to honor the fallen is to only ask the next generation to make the ultimate sacrifice when they absolutely must,” he said. “We must be cautious in sending our people to war.”
Before heading to the Arlington Cemetery on a cloudy Washington day, Trump wrote a flurry of posts on his social media platform, Truth Social.
He wrote that President Joe Biden allowed 21 million people “to illegally enter our country, many of them being criminals and the mentally insane.”
He also took aim at those he called “USA-hating judges,” accusing them of protecting illegal immigrants and undermining national security.
He wrote that they “are on a mission to keep murderers, drug dealers, rapists, gang members, and released prisoners from all over the world, in our country so they can rob, murder and rape again.”
Meanwhile, he expressed hope that the U.S. Supreme Court and “other good and compassionate judges” across the country would protect the country from the harmful decisions.
Trump wrote that he had confidence in the progress made over the past four months and said the country will “soon be safe and great again.”
