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July 23, 2017, 12:11 AM UTC / Updated July 23, 2017, 12:11 AM UTC / Source : Associated Press

President Donald Trump is championing what he describes as America's return to global military prominence.

Trump spoke Saturday at the official commissioning of the aircraft carrier the USS Gerald Ford at Norfolk, Virginia.

The president says there has been "a shortfall in military readiness" and decries "a very, very bad time" for the military" in previous years.

Trump hails the $12.9 billion next-generation aircraft carrier as symbolic of a new era when "everyone will know that America is coming and America is coming strong."

Earlier this year, Trump gave an interview criticizing the high-tech electromagnetic catapult that is one of the signature innovations of the Ford and expressing a preference for the traditional steam-fueled catapult. He didn't mention the issue on Saturday.