Overview
- At the White House East Room ceremony on Thursday, June 18, President Trump arrived about an hour late and opened by saying the stock market and Americans’ 401(k) accounts had hit new all‑time highs and that oil was “dropping like a rock.”
- Trump used the event to defend a memorandum of understanding he signed at the recent G‑7 summit in France, saying talks of peace boosted markets and that the deal helped avoid an “economic catastrophe.”
- He diverted attention from the honorees by joking that he wanted to award himself the Medal of Honor but could not find anything making him “worthy.”
- Trump praised Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in the audience, calling him “Secretary of War” and saying Hegseth has had “some good victories lately,” language that elevated a political ally during a solemn military ritual.
- The ceremony honored Marine Maj. James Capers, the late Col. John W. Ripley, and Army Maj. Nicolas Dockery, and reporters noted that the president’s political remarks and late arrival drew scrutiny against polling that shows low public approval of his handling of the economy.