President Trump delivered remarks Saturday at the formal commissioning of the USS Gerald R. Ford, the U.S. Navy’s newest warship, in Norfolk, Va., closing out the White House’s “Made in America” week.
“American steel and American hands have constructed a 100,000-ton message to the world, American might is second to none, and we’re getting bigger and better and stronger every day of my administration, that I can tell you,” Trump said in his speech referring to the U.S.-manufactured aircraft carrier.
“This ship is the deterrent that keeps us from having to fight in the first place, but this ship also assures that if a fight does come, it will always end the same way: We will win, win, win. We will never lose. We will win. When it comes to battle we don’t want a fair fight, we want just the opposite. We demand victory and we will have total victory, believe me,” Trump added. The USS Ford is a first-of-class ship and is the first new aircraft carrier design in 40 years.
Trump also thanked former U.S. leaders, including former Vice President Dick Cheney and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who both served under President George W. Bush in the 2000s.
“Thank you. They look great. They look great,” Trump said about Cheney, 76, and Rumsfeld, 85.
The White House focused the week on products that are made in America, though Trump was at times criticized for his family’s businesses who export manufacturing to other countries.
