WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — President Trump celebrated the service of military members and the talents of professional golfers on Tuesday in a reserved speech that, but for the presidential seal on the lectern and a few improvised flourishes, offered little deviance from the standard pre-dinner remarks at a signature sporting event.
In remarks at the Salute to Service dinner before a military-themed professional golf tournament this week in West Virginia, Mr. Trump also sprinkled in boasts of the successes of his administration, including the push for what he called “clean coal” and the potential creation of a Space Force, and musings on the significance of the Fourth of July.
But much of the speech was devoted to the current and former service members in the room. “From Bunker Hill to the beaches of Normandy and the jungles of Vietnam, Americans in every generation have given their last breath, their last measure of love,” Mr. Trump said, with the flags of the five military branches behind him.
“Now we must fulfill our sacred duty to them,” he added, before jumping into a description of his administration’s efforts to change veterans’ health care and increase military spending. “We must protect those who protect us.”
Mr. Trump also spent part of the speech, which lasted for just under a half-hour, admiring the prowess of the handful of professional golfers in attendance for A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier, the golf tournament set to begin Thursday at the eponymous luxury mountain resort.
Mr. Trump’s largely subdued tone was a striking departure from his combustible and freewheeling persona at his rallies — and from the stream of exaggerations, misstatements and falsehoods that had filled his Twitter feed on Tuesday, including a couple of jabs posted en route to the resort. And while it was an unusual presidential excursion out of Washington to the site of a professional sporting tournament with a $7.3 million prize, it blended two of Mr. Trump’s passions: golf and the military.
“It’s an honor for me, especially as a golfer,” Mr. Trump said, after acknowledging a recipient of the Medal of Honor, a Gold Star widow and a number of professional golfers, including Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley.
The event allowed the president to return to a favorite destination and parade his friendship with Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia, the billionaire coal magnate who publicly embraced Mr. Trump almost a year ago as he switched his party affiliation to Republican from Democrat. Mr. Justice — “Big Jim,” Mr. Trump said, as he embellished the governor’s 6-foot-7 stature by at least three inches — asked the president to speak at the event, having rebranded the tournament, formerly known as the Greenbrier Classic, with a new focus on the military this year.
A few falsehoods still slipped through, most notably when the president shifted to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency caught in the outcry over Mr. Trump’s immigration crackdown.
“When these people come into our country and come in illegally and then disperse throughout the country and all of a sudden you see nests of MS-13, it’s like you were liberating towns,” Mr. Trump said. “We sent ICE in, and for ICE, it’s just another day.”
While ICE agents have arrested hundreds of members of the transnational gang, the president has yet to produce evidence of any specific town being ruled by or freed from the gang.
Mr. Trump also said the guests would be “very impressed” with his pick to replace Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on the Supreme Court, which he has given himself until Monday to make.
But, Mr. Trump said to scattered laughter, he would still spend part of the weekend watching the golf competition, and “saying I wish I could play like that.”
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