President Trump used a stop at Central Command in Tampa, Florida Monday to pledge that he’ll rebuild the military and defeat ISIS.
“To these forces of death and destruction: America and its allies will defeat you. We will defeat them. … and we will not allow them to take root in this country,” Trump said of ISIS, the terror state that’s inspired attacks around the world.
Speaking of his pledged build-up, Trump said, “You’ve been lacking equipment. We’re going to load it up.”
“We’re gonna be loading it up with beautiful new equipment,” he added.
Trump promised to make an “investment” in the military, saying, “We have your back, every hour, every day, now and always. That also means getting our allies to pay their fair share.”
The president also used his remarks to take a victory lap, rallying the assembled troops by saying, “We had a wonderful election, didn’t we?”
Speaking of his approval numbers with members of the military, Trump said, “I saw those numbers. And you like me and I like you.”
The president went on to implore “free riders” in NATO to pay their fair share, “which many of them have not been doing.”
But, he added, “We fully support NATO.”
At the beginning of his remarks, Trump recognized Gov. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who endorsed him for president and who was at MacDill Air Force Base for the remarks. Trump praised Scott’s support, taking a shot at those who didn’t back his candidacy.
“If they don;t endorse, it’s never quite the same,” he said.
The commander-in-chief also criticized the media, calling it “the very, very dishonest press” and claiming that it doesn’t report on terror attacks because “they have their reasons.”
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
