IS IT WORTH IT?

West Point Cadets Live in Quarantine for Two Weeks to Prepare for Trump’s Graduation Speech

The cadets, who have been confined to their dorms, were sent back to campus when Trump decided he wanted to give the commencement address despite the pandemic.

Cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point were forced to isolate for two weeks in their dorms in preparation for President Trump’s commencement speech on Saturday, The New York Times reports. The graduating cadets were sent home in March amid the coronavirus outbreak but were then called back to campus—where they’ve been required to wear masks and spend their days watching leadership lectures online—when Trump insisted his planned commencement speech must go on despite the pandemic. As part of the preparations, the 1,107 cadets were tested for COVID-19 and then separated into four groups with whom they were ordered to remain. Trump’s speech comes as his relationship with top military leaders has deteriorated over his response to protests against police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death.