According to the New York Times, President Trump caught officials at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point off guard when he announced that, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, he would proceed with his planned commencement speech at the storied institution. That means that 1,000 seniors, who were instructed to remain at home after spring break, will have to return to campus to take part in the graduation. West Point is located just 60 miles from New York City—the epicenter of America's COVID-19 crisis.

The commencement, initially scheduled to take place late next month, was postponed due to the ongoing pandemic. While the Naval Academy will have a digital commencement for its seniors, the Air Force Academy decided to hold a socially-distant graduation, with Vice President Mike Pence filling his scheduled role as speaker. When a reporter asked Trump last Friday about Pence's speech, the president announced that he would be speaking at West Point—an announcement, that according to the Times, officials at the academy had no idea was coming. Now, the graduation is planned for June 13.

Trump, who attended high school at the private New York Military Academy boarding school, seems to enjoy few aspects of the presidency more than ceremonial military activities. He was famously so impressed by Paris' Bastille Day celebration—which he dubbed "one of the greatest parades [he'd] ever seen" thanks in part to its impressive display of "military might"—that he became determined to replicate the pageantry at home. He staged a "Salute to America" event last Fourth of July, complete with tanks and flyovers by Air Force bombers.

According to the Amy Times, West Point plans to test all cadets returning to campus, and place them under a "soft quarantine" in their dorms. Parents were not permitted to attend the graduation ceremony at the Air Force Academy, but West Point has not yet decided whether or not to invite cadets' families.

During his press conference last Friday, Trump expressed displeasure with the "look" of socially distanced commencements like the one performed at the Air Force Academy, which found cadets sitting eight feet away from each other.

“He’s the commander in chief, that’s his call,” Sue Fulton, West Point's former Board of Visitors chairwoman, told the Times. “But everyone is leery about bringing 1,000 cadets into the New York metropolitan area for a ceremony. It’s definitely a risk.”

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Gabrielle Bruney Gabrielle Bruney is a writer and editor for Esquire, where she focuses on politics and culture.

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