By WILL WEISSERT and ALLEN G. BREED Associated Press
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — President Donald Trump celebrated the special forces members who ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, saying last month’s audacious raid means “the entire world saw what the full military might” of the U.S. can do and ensured “we are feared” by potential enemies around the world.
Addressing soldiers and their families at Fort Bragg, one of the world’s largest military bases, Trump declared, “Your commander in chief supports you totally.” Then, drawing on one of his own campaign slogans, he implored them, “When needed, you’re going to fight, fight, fight. You’re going to win, win, win.”
The president and first lady Melania Trump also met privately with military families. Trump said after the meeting that “we saw a lot of heroes” and “these are great patriots.” He said he planned to give a Medal of Honor to “one person” for participating in the Venezuelan operation.
But the visit often felt more like a political rally than an official visit to celebrate the U.S. armed forces. Trump’s lauding of the raid that toppled Maduro came only after he called to the stage Michael Whatley, a former Republican National Committee chair who has the president’s endorsement as he now runs for Senate in North Carolina.
Whatley thanked Trump and suggested that the president “is giving me an opportunity to represent you” — even though the election isn’t until November.
Later, Trump said of the Jan. 3 raid that whisked away Maduro to face U.S. drug smuggling charges, “It was a matter of minutes before he was on a helicopter being taken out.” He called the forces involved “some of our greatest soldiers to ever live, frankly,” while dismissing Maduro as an “outlaw dictator.”
“That night, the entire world saw what the full military might (of) the U.S. military is capable” of, the president said. “It was so precise, so incredible.”
Trump also vowed, “As long as I’m president, we will be the best led, the best trained, the best equipped, the most disciplined and the most elite fighting force the world has ever seen” and noted of would-be U.S. adversaries, “Everybody knows it.”
“They know exactly what they would be up against. Hopefully, we’ll never have to test them and, because of our strength, and because of what we do, we probably won’t have to be tested,” Trump said.
Even still, the president mentioned sending a second aircraft carrier group to the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran and said, “America’s respected again. And, perhaps most importantly, we are feared by the enemies all over the globe.”
“I don’t like to say fear,” he said. “But, sometimes, you have to have fear because that’s the only thing that really will get the situation taken care of.”
Trump lately has traveled more frequently to states that could play key roles in November’s midterm congressional elections, including a stop before Christmas in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The White House has been trying to promote Trump’s economic policies, including attempts to bring down the cost of living at a time when many people are growing frustrated with his efforts to improve affordability.
The president didn’t spend a lot of time on his economic policies on Friday, though he did mention how a White House-backed tax and spending package is increasing funding for military housing.
As he left the White House to make the trip, meanwhile, Trump cheered data released Friday showing that inflation fell to nearly a five-year low last month.
“The numbers were surprising, except to me they weren’t surprising,” Trump said. “We have very modest inflation, which is what you want to have.”
The president also spoke at Fort Bragg in June at an event meant to recognize the 250th anniversary of the Army. But that celebration was overshadowed by his partisan remarks describing protesters in Los Angeles as “animals” and his defense of deploying the military there.
This time, Trump evoked the fatal stabbing of a Ukrainian refugee on a North Carolina commuter train and called the man accused of committing it a “monster.”
Also Friday, Trump praised Maduro’s replacement, acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez. Rather than push for elections in Venezuela, Trump says his administration is inviting top oil companies there to rebuild its energy industry. U.S. officials also have seized tankers as part of their broad oversight of the country’s oil industry.
“The relationship is strong, the oil is coming out,” Trump told reporters before flying to North Carolina. He added: “We have our big oil companies going in, they’re going to be pumping out the oil and selling the oil for a lot of money.”
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Weissert reported from Washington.