Me... Me... Me...

There is a military tradition at West Point of the president shaking hands with the graduation cadets... but not Trump! He broke tradition, which caused rumors to start,

Posts claim West Point cadets 'silently revolted' against Trump, refusing to shake his hand. Here's what we know

The U.S. Military Academy West Point cadet honor code reads, "A Cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do."

Snopes

By Jordan Liles

May 29, 2025

A rumor that circulated online in May 2025 claimed U.S. Military Academy West Point cadets silently revolted against President Donald Trump's attendance to deliver the commencement address at their May 24 graduation ceremony, secretly coming to an agreement beforehand to refuse to shake his hand.

Numerous social media users copied and pasted an alleged report about this matter attributed to the author name Robert Hawks. The story's headline read, "West Point Cadets' Silent Revolt—Anonymous Graduates and Faculty Reveal Why President Trump Didn't Shake Their Hands."

So what did Snopes find?

A similar rumor that circulated at the same time — which claimed Trump played golf, or that a video showed him playing golf, in the hours after leaving the West Point graduation and returning to Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey — also lacked definitive evidence. Readers can learn more details about that matter in our previous fact check.

AP News reports;

President Donald Trump used the first service academy commencement address of his second term Saturday to laud graduating West Point cadets for their accomplishments and career choice while also veering sharply into a campaign-style recitation of political boasts and long-held grievances.

“In a few moments, you’ll become graduates of the most elite and storied military academy in human history,” Trump said at the ceremony at Michie Stadium. “And you will become officers of the greatest and most powerful army the world has ever known. And I know, because I rebuilt that army, and I rebuilt the military. And we rebuilt it like nobody has ever rebuilt it before in my first term.”

Wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat, the Republican president told the 1,002 members of the class of 2025 at the U.S. Military Academy that the United States is the “hottest country in the world” and underscored an “America First” ethos for the military.

Um... how would Mr. Bone Spur know “hottest country in the world?”

“We’re getting rid of distractions and we’re focusing our military on its core mission: crushing America’s adversaries, killing America’s enemies and defending our great American flag like it has never been defended before,” Trump said. He later said that “the job of the U.S. armed forces is not to host drag shows or transform foreign cultures,” a reference to drag shows on military bases that Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration halted after Republican criticism.

Past administrations, he said, “subjected the armed forces to all manner of social projects and political causes while leaving our borders undefended and depleting our arsenals to fight other countries’ wars.”

i.e. We are remaking the military in to a male White Christian Nationalism force loyal to Trump and not the Constitution.

On Friday, Vice President JD Vance spoke to the graduating class at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Vance said in his remarks that Trump was working to ensure U.S. soldiers are deployed with clear goals, rather than the “undefined missions” and “open-ended conflicts” of the past.

Yeah... to the streets of Boston, New York and other universities to be used to put down peaceful protests at colleges and cites.

So these are rumors being spread by social media... but let's look at why he took their salutes instead of shaking hands... is Trump a germaphobe or was there another reason why he did that? The Washington Post writes,

Trump’s visit to West Point was freighted with controversy. More than 700 alumni signed a public letter to the Class of 2020 that was an unmistakable rebuke of Trump’s threat “to use the military as a weapon against fellow Americans” protesting racial injustice. The signatories also appeared to indirectly condemn Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, a West Point graduate, who accompanied Trump in a June 1 church photo opportunity after military police helped forcibly clear peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C.

[...]

“This president has destroyed the reputations and careers of countless public servants, ambassadors, military officers and civilian alike, demoralizing and depleting the ranks of government and reducing its effectiveness,” Caldera [West Point graduate and former Secretary of the Army] wrote. “To use and abuse people in this narcissistic and unprincipled manner is the antithesis of leadership that inspires loyalty and devotion among those you are privileged to lead.”

I have to wonder if Trump broke with tradition to satisfy his narcissism, his need for satisfying his sense of self-importance, a need for admiration, and a lack of empathy for others. Does this fit in with his need for a military parade for his birthday... um... rather the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary.

Then we have the MAGA hat he wore to the graduation! Is he going to wear to the parade?