President Joe Biden reaffirmed his commitment to backing Ukraine amid its war with Russia at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., telling the school’s over 1,000 graduates that he is “determined” to keep American soldiers out of Ukraine.
“There are no American soldiers at war in Ukraine. I’m determined to keep it that way, but we are standing strong with Ukraine. And we will stand with them,” the Democratic incumbent said Saturday morning, according to Axios. “We will not walk away.”
Moreover, Biden reiterated the nation’s support for Israel and for U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific region. He highlighted the U.S. military’s role in intercepting missiles and drones that Iran launched against Israel last month and providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza since the onset of the Israel–Hamas war. He also touted U.S. efforts to deter growing Chinese militarism in the Indo-Pacific, especially with regard to Taiwan.
Congress passed and Biden signed a national-security supplemental package last month, sending $95 billion in funds to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan pertaining to each country’s geopolitical situation.
“There remains a hard-power world. You can’t draw any other conclusion when powerful nations try to coerce their neighbors, or terrorists attempt evil plots,” Biden said, citing “historic investments” in the U.S. military to prevent such threats.
The president largely focused on praising the U.S. military during the 22-minute speech, though he did take veiled shots at former president Donald Trump without naming him.
Seemingly concerning his Republican opponent, Biden implored West Point’s graduating cadets to uphold their military oath “not to a political party, not to a president, but to the Constitution of the United States of America, against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
“From the very beginning, nothing is guaranteed about our democracy in America. Every generation has an obligation to defend it, to protect it, to preserve it, to choose it. Now it’s your turn,” he added, urging the new military officers to step up as “guardians of American democracy.”
Biden has repeatedly accused Trump of threatening American freedom and democracy if he returns to the White House for a second term.
Notably, Trump delivered the commencement address at West Point in 2020, while receiving criticism from some military leaders at the time for wanting to deploy active-duty military personnel to quell riots following the death of George Floyd. Pentagon leaders ultimately resisted the then-president’s wishes.
Saturday’s speech marks the third time Biden had served as West Point’s commencement speaker, according to the New York Times. The previous two occasions were when he was vice president. In the past three years, Biden spoke at the Coast Guard, Navy, and Air Force Academy graduations.
Biden last spoke at the commencement ceremony for Morehouse College, a historically black educational institution in Atlanta, Ga., on Sunday.