In commencement speech, Trump tells West Point grads: 'Thank you for answering your nation's call'

President Trump on Saturday praised the 2020 graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point, saluting them during commencement ceremonies and telling them, "Thank you for answering your nation's call." 

The president gave the commencement address at a unique "socially distanced" ceremony, in which grads were spaced out roughly eight feet apart from each other to help prevent the coronavirus from spreading among attendees.

Trump during the speech also heaped praise on the nearly 220-year-old institution, which he said "produces only the best of the best, the strongest of the strong, and the bravest of the brave."

"West Point is a universal symbol of American gallantry, loyalty, devotion, discipline, and skill," he said. 

Echoing his administration's ongoing policy goal of bringing troops home and ending lengthy overseas engagements, Trump told the graduating students, "It is not the duty of U.S. troops to solve ancient conflicts in faraway lands that many people have never even heard of."

"To the 1,107 who today become the newest officers in the most exceptional Army ever to take the field of battle, I am here to offer America's salute," he said.