Susan Walsh / AP
President Trump offered some advice to the graduates of the Coast Guard Academy during his commencement speech Wednesday:
"Over the course of your life... you'll find that things aren't always fair. But you have to put your head down and fight, fight, fight. Never ever ever give up. Things will work out just fine. Look at the way I've been treated lately, especially by the media. No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly. You can't let them get you down. You can't let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams [applause]. I guess that's why we won? Adversity makes you stronger. Don't give in, don't back down, and never stop doing what you know is right. Nothing worth doing ever came easy. And the more righteous your fight, the more opposition you will face."
Key quotes:
- "You have to act, and you have to act properly, and you have to learn how to act under great great pressure... you will always have to be ready."
- "I didn't get elected to serve the Washington media or special interests, I got elected to service the forgotten men and women of our country. I will never stop fighting for you and I will never get tired..."
- "Cadets from this day forward, we want everyone to have a clean slate in life, so for any oversights or small violations that may have occurred this year, as tradition holds, I now here absolve you..."
- "My administration, we will be building the first heavy Coast Guard icebreakers... We need them. We need many of them."
- "Under budget and ahead of schedule, we're doing a lot of that... I won't talk about how much I saved you on the F35 fighter jet..."
Why it matters: Similar to his commencement speech at Liberty University, Trump relished the opportunity to address a mainly supportive crowd after a week of being skewered by the media over a number of White House scandals.