President Donald Trump praised West Point on Truth Social, Monday, after the West Point Association of Graduates canceled an award ceremony that was to honor Tom Hanks.
"Our great West Point (getting greater all the time!) has smartly canceled the award ceremony for actor Tom Hanks," Trump wrote. "Important move! We don't need destructive, WOKE recipients getting our cherished American Awards!!!"
The association's CEO, Mark Bieger, announced the cancellation in an email to faculty, Variety reported. He defended the decision by saying it would let West Point "focus on its core mission of preparing cadets to lead, fight, and win as officers in the world's most lethal force, the United States Army."
The West Point ceremony was supposed to take place later this month in which Hanks was to be honored as an "outstanding citizen" outside the U.S. Military Academy with a history of social service that exemplifies "Duty, Honor, Country," the New York officer college's three core ideals.
The alumni association's original announcement in June that the actor would receive the award stated that "much of Hanks' five-decade career reflects his support of veterans, the military, and America's space program" and for his portrayal of service members in several movies.
In another example, the announcement stated that Hanks served as national spokesman for the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., and supported the late Republican Sen. Bob Dole's fundraiser to create the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial.
People reported that the canceled ceremony comes amid a period of transition at West Point, which has faced significant changes since Trump returned to the White House.
The president might be among the conservatives appalled by Hanks' statement to Time magazine in 2010, when he said of American troops fighting and dying in Afghanistan, "Back in World War II, we viewed the Japanese as 'yellow, slant-eyed dogs' that believed in different gods. They were out to kill us because our way of living was different. We, in turn, wanted to annihilate them because they were different. Does that sound familiar, by any chance, to what's going on today?"
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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