Trump
President Donald Trump gestures after speaking to soldiers and their families at Fort Bragg, N.C., Friday, Feb. 13, 2026.
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President Trump used a Fort Bragg appearance on Friday to praise U.S. Special Forces for last month's raid that removed Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. But his visit also felt at times more like a political rally than an official trip to fete the military. Trump said he planned to award the Medal of Honor to one of the raid's participants. But he also called Michael Whatley, a Republican Senate candidate in North Carolina, to the stage. Trump told troops and their families that the operation against Maduro shows America’s military might. The president mentioned sending a second aircraft carrier group to the Middle East amid tensions with Iran and said that the U.S. is “feared” by potential enemies.
