Norfolk, Virginia
—
A government shutdown that might go away some navy service members with out paychecks didn’t cease President Donald Trump from visiting one of many largest naval installations on the earth on Sunday to have a good time the US Navy’s 250th birthday.
Trump advised a big crowd of sailors in Norfolk, Virginia, that service members will nonetheless be paid regardless of the government shutdown, which he blamed Democrats for creating.
“We will get our service members every last penny. Don’t worry about it,” Trump mentioned to applause and cheers. The Defense Department informed active-duty and reserve navy members in late September that they’d not be paid after September 30 till Congress approves funding for the company, in line with a memo seen by NCS.
He additionally introduced assist for “across-the-board pay raises for every sailor and service member in the United States Armed Forces,” earlier than likening Democrats to a “gnat” above his and the Republican Party’s shoulders.
“But, we have to take care of this little gnat that’s on our shoulder called the Democrats,” he mentioned. “They want to give all of our money to illegal aliens that pour into the country.”
Trump was joined by first girl Melania Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who every gave remarks.
The occasion is Trump’s newest effort to have a good time the US navy forward of subsequent yr’s nationwide semiquincentennial. He hosted a parade in Washington over the summer season to have a good time the Army’s birthday, although he later voiced some non-public disappointment at facets of the spectacle.
The parade additionally fueled criticism that Trump, who had lengthy referred to as for one, was politicizing the armed forces. Initially planned as a smaller event, it grew to the most important show of navy would possibly within the nation’s capital in no less than three a long time.
Throughout the Sunday speech, Trump’s political strains didn’t draw a significant response from the gang. Most attendees watched politely, solely applauding at his references to the Navy’s energy and getting pay raises for navy members.
Trump additionally touted his deployment of the National Guard to US cities, telling the sailors that he’ll ship in “whatever is necessary” to fight crime.
“You know what? We send in whatever is necessary. People don’t care. They don’t want crime in their cities,” he mentioned.
Trump has beforehand introduced the authorization for a whole bunch of National Guard members to deploy to Chicago; Memphis, Tennessee and Portland, Oregon. On Saturday, a choose temporarily blocked his plan to deploy troops to Portland, however Trump rapidly ordered the California National Guard to deploy to Oregon as a substitute. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has introduced plans to sue over the deployment.
Trump spoke Sunday alongside the USS Kearsarge and the USS Harry S. Truman, the latter of which returned to Norfolk in June from a prolonged deployment within the Red Sea battling Houthi rebels in Yemen.
There have been no apparent indicators that the government shutdown was affecting the celebration as hundreds of sailors in gown whites gathered to listen to from the commander in chief. Trump, writing on social media final week, accused Democrats of making an attempt to “destroy this wonderful celebration of the U.S. Navy’s Birthday.”
Trump advised navy brass assembled final week at an uncommon in-person gathering in Quantico, Virginia, that the US wasn’t constructing sufficient Navy ships — and that a few of the ones they have been constructing have been “ugly.”
“I’m a very aesthetic person, and I don’t like some of the ships you’re doing aesthetically,” he advised the group.
He mentioned he was aiming so as to add greater than a dozen ships to the Navy’s fleet with a rise in navy spending.
At the identical occasion, Trump proposed utilizing US cities as coaching floor for the navy. In the times since, he’s ramped up federal regulation enforcement interventions in Portland and Chicago, towards the needs of these cities’ leaders.
Sunday’s occasion — referred to as “Titans of the Sea” — was supposed to showcase the Navy’s “cutting-edge fleet, and inspire the next generation of warriors to carry America’s strength across every ocean,” a launch from the organizers mentioned.
NCS’s Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, Casey Gannon and Emily Condon contributed to this report.