Donald Trump has launched a vitriolic attack on Tom Hanks, calling the actor 'destructive' and 'woke' after the US Military Academy at West Point abruptly cancelled a ceremony honouring him. The former president took to his social media platform on Monday to applaud the decision, writing: 'Our great West Point (getting greater all the time!) has smartly cancelled the Award Ceremony for actor Tom Hanks. Important move! We don’t need destructive, WOKE recipients getting our cherished American Awards!!!'
Hanks had been due to receive the 2025 Sylvanus Thayer Award later this month for his 'service and accomplishments in the national interest'. The West Point Association of Graduates gave no detailed explanation for the cancellation. Retired Colonel Mark Bieger said in a message to faculty that the move would allow the institution to 'continue its focus on its core mission of preparing cadets to lead, fight and win as officers in the world’s most lethal force, the United States Army'.
Hanks, a two-time Academy Award winner, has a long history of supporting veterans. He served as national spokesperson for the World War II Memorial in Washington DC and supported Bob Dole’s fundraising campaign for the Dwight D Eisenhower Memorial. He is an honorary member of the US Army’s Ranger Hall of Fame and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.
The actor has portrayed numerous military characters, including Captain John Miller in Saving Private Ryan, the Vietnam war soldier Forrest Gump, and Commander Ernie Krause in Greyhound. He has also endorsed Democratic candidates such as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Trump, who has appeared in films including Home Alone 2, has frequently complained about never winning an Emmy for his reality show The Apprentice, claiming he 'got screwed out of an Emmy' and that 'the Emmys are all politics'.
