President Trump joined Americans on Memorial Day in paying respect to those who gave their lives for the country, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
"Our fallen heroes have not only written our history, they have shaped our destiny," Trump said, speaking at the cemetery's Memorial Ampitheater. "They inspired their communities and uplifted their country and provided the best example of courage, virtue and valor the world will ever know. They fought and bled and died so that America would forever remain safe and strong and free."
"They came from every generation — from towering cities and windswept prairies, from privilege and from poverty," he said. "They were generals and privates, captains and corporals of every race, color and of every creed. But they were all brothers and sisters in arms. And they were all united then, as they are united now, forever, by their undying love of our great country."
Hours earlier, the president had used the day's themes to praise the current state of the nation in a comment on Twitter that drew criticism from some.
