Trump Ripped After Celebrating Cancellation Of West Point Award Ceremony For 'WOKE' Tom Hanks

If pettiness were a military honor, Donald Trump would already have a wing at West Point. Instead, he settled for gloating when the academy scrapped its Thayer Award ceremony for Tom Hanks—the man who’s played more servicemen on screen than Trump has saluted in real life.

The Thayer Award, established in the 1950s, is West Point’s highest civilian honor, given to an “outstanding citizen”—read: not Trump—whose life reflects the academy’s motto: “Duty, Honor, Country.” Hanks was a no-brainer pick. He’s spent decades spotlighting service members and veterans in projects like Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, and Forrest Gump.

Off-screen, Hanks has put in the work too: serving as national spokesperson for the World War II Memorial, chairing the D-Day Museum Capital Campaign, fundraising for the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial, and even earning induction into the U.S. Army Rangers Hall of Fame for the authenticity of his military portrayals. As Chair of the Elizabeth Dole Foundation’s Hidden Heroes Campaign, he’s championed America’s often-overlooked military caregivers.

And as U.S. Ambassador for Lifeline Energy, he’s backed humanitarian projects abroad—funding solar and wind-up “Lifeplayer” radios that deliver education, health, and safety programming across sub-Saharan Africa, from Rwandan classrooms to Somali refugee camps.

It’s no surprise, then, that in 2016, President Barack Obama honored the two-time Oscar Winner with the Presidential Medal of Freedom:

- YouTube ABC News/YouTube

Simpler times—back when “presidential” wasn’t a punchline.

Recipients of the Thayer Award in past years have included presidents from both parties—Obama, George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan—as well as Tom Brokaw and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. In short: it’s a profound honor, reserved for people who’ve truly accomplished something.

However, according to The Washington Post, retired Army Colonel Mark Bieger, president and CEO of the West Point Association of Graduates, emailed faculty last week to announce the cancellation of the ceremony.

Bieger explained:

“This decision allows the Academy to continue its 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.”

Translation: blame the culture war, not the cadets. And sure enough, West Point has become collateral damage—scrubbing diversity-themed books and even being ordered to restore a painting of Confederate “loser” General Robert E. Lee.

Hanks, ever the adult in the room, has yet to respond. Trump, naturally, just couldn’t help himself.

Cue Truth Social, where he humblebragged as if canceling Tom Hanks carried the same weight as finally winning an appeal against E. Jean Carroll—a plot twist no jury has ever bought.

His Pettiness-in-Chief wrote:

“Our great West Point (getting greater all the time!) has smartly cancelled the Award Ceremony for actor Tom Hanks. We don’t need destructive, WOKE recipients getting our cherished American Awards!!! Hopefully the Academy Awards, and other Fake Award Shows, will review their Standards and Practices in the name of Fairness and Justice. Watch their DEAD RATINGS SURGE!”

Yes, this from the man who once demanded a multimillion-dollar military parade for his birthday but now claims to care about the sanctity of institutions.

You can view the post below:

@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social

Trump could also be salty over Hanks mocking his beloved MAGA cult members on Saturday Night Live as recently as last February for their now Emmy-winning 50th Anniversary special:

- YouTube SNL/YouTube

Add in the fact that when Hanks contracted COVID in 2020, he got global sympathy and prayers, while Trump’s diagnosis inspired less “get well soon” and more “is he gone yet?” A pattern that has become a trend during his second term of presidential "absences."

And the internet had much more to say about the president’s remarks on America's unofficial dad, Tom Hanks:

Which brings us to the obvious question: what has Trump actually done for veterans compared to Hanks?

Trump’s second term résumé includes demanding a $45 million vanity parade instead of funding food or housing for thousands of vets, pushing transgender service members out of uniform, and cutting off gender-affirming care that costs less than one-tenth of one percent of his parade budget. His so-called “efficiency” cuts gutted jobs and benefits for veteran employees, while his prized H.R. 1 bill slashed Medicaid and SNAP in favor of tax breaks for the wealthy. And now he’s burning through millions deploying the National Guard for political stunts—threatening blue states and treating troops like stage props instead of funding the VA.

So while Tom Hanks was deemed “too woke” for West Point, the president who cheered his cancellation has spent his time stripping benefits, romanticizing Confederates, and weaponizing patriotism for Truth Social clout.

When history asks who truly embodied “Duty, Honor, Country,” the answer won’t be the guy still mad at Tom Hanks.