Speaking to uniformed troops at Fort Bragg on Friday, President Donald Trump urged support for Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley and warned about Democrats ahead of the midterm elections.
He told the crowd that the stakes were high.
“It’s very important because our military has to be protected,” Trump said. He added that Democrats would “decimate our military.”
The event took place on an active Army base, with rows of service members standing in uniform. Many remained still as he spoke, with most applause coming from political allies and Republican officials nearby.
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Trump also focused on Whatley’s opponent, former North Carolina governor Roy Cooper. He repeated a claim that a COVID-era prison settlement under Cooper led to the early release of DeCarlos Brown Jr., the man accused of stabbing 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska to death on Charlotte public transit last year.
The Charlotte Observer has since proven that sentiment false.
“This was the man, the governor, that allowed this man to get out,” said Trump to a notably silent crowd. “We don’t do that… That’s not gonna happen with Michael Whatley, that I can tell you.”
Trump, speaking to troops in North Carolina, is now attacking ex-governor and Democratic Senate candidate Roy Cooper as a “disaster” who was culpable for a woman getting her “throat slit”
(note the total silence from the crowd) pic.twitter.com/wrTDOW0bd8
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 13, 2026
Fort Bragg is an active military installation. Defense Department policy prohibits partisan political activity by active-duty service members. The Army field manual states: “The Army as an institution must be nonpartisan and appear so too.”
Federal law known as the Hatch Act limits many government employees from campaigning in their official roles, though it does not apply to the president.
During his remarks, Trump spoke directly about voting.
“You have to vote for us,” he said, referring to his decision to restore the Fort Bragg name after Congress directed the Pentagon to rename military bases that honored Confederate officers.
“If we don’t win the midterms, they’ll take it off again,” Trump said. “They’ll take it off again. You can’t let that happen.”
He also criticized past commanders in chief.
“You’ve had a couple of good ones, not that many if you want to know the truth,” he said. “But we support you more than any of them.”
Trump touched on other campaign themes, including the economy and immigration. He mentioned plans to increase defense spending to $1 trillion next year, build new battleships and improve housing for service members on base.
After the speech, he met privately with troops who participated in the raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Featured image via X screengrab
