President Trump celebrated the 70th birthday of the U.S. Air Force Friday, using the event to deliver a grim warning to North Korea, radical Islamic terrorists and other enemies.
He told a crowd of military personnel and their families that nothing strikes fear into the hearts of America’s enemy more than the sight of U.S. fighter jets on the horizon.
“Our aviators have given us total domination of the skies,” Mr. Trump said at Joint Base Andrews, where easier he viewed a private demonstration of some of the latest war-fighting technology.
“Our air superiority is unquestionable, not only because we have the best equipment but because we have the best people by far,” he said. “We are celebrating 70 years of history, 70 years of heroes and 70 years of victories.”
President Truman established the Air Force as an independent service in 1947. The official birthday is Sept. 18. Mr. Trump will be at the United Nations General Assembly that day next week.
The president said the demonstrations he witnessed convinced him that the U.S. Air Force would continue to be both effective and overwhelming in combat.
The president said he had called U.K. Prime Minister Teresa May and offered condolences for the morning bombing on a London Underground train.
He pledged America’s “absolute commitment to irradiating the terrorists from our planet. Radical Islamic terrorism. It will be eradicated. Believe me.”
He said that the U.S. resolve would never waver and the U.S. would never be intimidated by acts of terror.
“This includes the regime of North Korea which has once again showed its utter contempt for its neighbors and the entire world community,” Mr. Trump said, referring to the test fire this week of a missile over Japan.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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