\n<\/p>\n
He urged the audience of college students not to think they were too young to accomplish great things, before waxing on about tariffs. \u201cDon\u2019t try to be someone else,\u201d he implored them, after attacking due process for unauthorized immigrants. And he told them not to think of themselves as victims, before diverting into how the 2020 election was \u201crigged\u201d against him.<\/p>\n
On Thursday night, President Trump addressed the 2025 graduates of the University of Alabama, vacillating between campaign rally material and a commencement speech as he used his past political grievances to encourage students to fight for their futures.<\/p>\n
Addressing the students at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, flanked by signs that read \u201cThe American Dream Is Back,\u201d Mr. Trump told students they were \u201cthe first graduating class of the golden age of America,\u201d and used his comeback story to encourage the students to trust their instincts and be ambitious as they navigate the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn recent years, too many of our young people have really been taught to think of themselves as victims, and blame people, and be angry,\u201d he said. \u201cBut in America, we reject that idea that anyone is born a victim. Our heroes are the ones who take charge of their own destiny, make their own luck and determine their own fate, despite the odds.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
At points in the address, the president rattled off familiar advice for college graduates. But Mr. Trump \u2014 who acknowledged that he did not use his teleprompter for much of the speech \u2014 veered off into various rants that echoed the blitz of political appearances he has put in this week to celebrate his 100th day in office. The largely receptive crowd often cheered at the scattershot injection of issues from the price of eggs to transgender rights, a microcosm of an era when even the pablum of a graduation speech cannot escape the politics of the moment.<\/p>\n
Some of Mr. Trump\u2019s stories focused on how he himself had been victimized throughout his political career, from being counted out by other politicians who never thought he could become president to potentially facing down another impeachment.<\/p>\n
He also reveled in his victories, recounting his election results, including his commanding victory in Alabama, which he said felt like \u201chome\u201d when he was starting out as a candidate in 2015. A big rally he held in the state was among the first signs that Mr. Trump might have something beyond coastal appeal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cSo never let anyone tell you that something is impossible,\u201d he said. \u201cEver, ever, ever. In America, the impossible is what we all do best. There\u2019s nothing you cannot do if you\u2019re willing to fight for it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cFight, fight, fight,\u201d he added, invoking a slogan spurred by a failed assassination attempt on him on the campaign trail last year.<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump told the graduates that they had to \u201cbreak the system a little bit and follow your own instincts,\u201d seemingly describing his breakneck, flood-the zone strategy that has plunged the federal government into chaos and the country to the brink of a constitutional crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cChange is never easy, and the closer you get to success, the more ferociously those who have a vested interest in the past will resist you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump also gloated about how he faced far less resistance in his second term, citing \u201cinternet people\u201d and others who now bow down to him. \u201cThey all hated me in my first term,\u201d he said, adding with an expletive that they were now kissing up to him.<\/p>\n
Even in a college town, Mr. Trump was in relatively friendly territory in the heavily Republican state, which he carried easily in all three of his presidential bids. But there were protests, and a petition from the University of Alabama Democrats and the local chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. against Mr. Trump\u2019s appearance drew more than 26,000 signatures.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cAmericans are once again waking up to the fact that this wannabe monarch wants to rule over us like a king,\u201d Braden Vick, the president of the University of Alabama Democrats, said in a statement announcing the protest.<\/p>\n
About two miles from Coleman Coliseum, the university\u2019s Democrats held a protest joined by former Representative Beto O\u2019Rourke of Texas and former Senator Doug Jones of Alabama.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to show up to where the fight is, and that includes places like Alabama, which has just been written off by the Democratic Party for far too long,\u201d Mr. O\u2019Rourke said in an interview after the protest. \u201cAnd the message was: The people have the power. And when folks show up, as they did at the protest today or the marches or these no-show town halls, it really begins to move the rest of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Benard Simelton, the president of Alabama\u2019s N.A.A.C.P., compared Mr. Trump to the state\u2019s former governor, George Wallace, who built his political career as a populist and segregationist.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cHe is the president of all people, and yet he has failed every citizen miserably with his divisive, destructive policies, while inflicting horror on our Hispanic, Latino and other communities,\u201d he said in a statement opposing his visit. \u201cWallace\u2019s infamous words can still be heard today, \u2018Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
But Mr. Trump was enthusiastically received by the thousands of attendees at Coleman Coliseum. Mr. Trump\u2019s address was part of a \u201cspecial ceremony\u201d before 6,000 students begin attending formal graduation ceremonies on Friday. The pre-commencement ceremony was optional for students, and tickets were opened to guests.<\/p>\n
Despite Mr. Trump\u2019s falling approval ratings, the commencement offered a window into the resilience of much of his support outside Washington, and a gauge on the culture shift in the country that got him elected.<\/p>\n
There were at least as many red \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d hats in the crowd as there were special red graduation hats signifying a graduate\u2019s 4.0 grade point average. The crowd broke into chants of \u201cU.S.A.,\u201d reveled in Mr. Trump\u2019s extensive praise of its sports teams and roared when he talked about the \u201cclean shores of the Gulf of America.\u201d They cheered when he talked about keeping transgender women from playing on women\u2019s sports teams, and some laughed when Mr. Trump spent several minutes mocking matchups that involve transgender players.<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump\u2019s warm reception came as he is waging an assault on the higher education system. While the administration so far has taken aim largely at the nation\u2019s most elite colleges, the University of Alabama has not been spared.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Last month, a doctoral student at the University of Alabama was detained by federal immigration authorities,<\/a> amid the administration\u2019s campaign to deport noncitizen college students for engaging in forms of protest. Alireza Doroudi, an Iranian citizen, was legally<\/a> in the United States and detained in Louisiana.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump used the address to take shots at Harvard, which has stood up to him in the administration\u2019s effort to overhaul institutions it sees as too liberal and powerful. Mr. Trump bragged that his administration is withholding billions from Harvard<\/a>, and pitted the two universities against each other \u2014 as if forecasting a battle.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is clear to see the next chapter of the American story will not be written by the Harvard Crimson,\u201d he said. \u201cIt will be written by you, the Crimson Tide.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n