In April, 2020, Trump announced that he would give the commencement speech for the graduating class at West Point on June 13. West Point officials were reportedly surprised by the decision, as they had sent home the class in March amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the press conference, Trump discussed how the ceremony would be socially distanced, saying that he didn’t like the look and preferred it “nice and tight.”

1,106 cadets were summoned from across the country back to their campus in New York, which was the epicenter of COVID-19 at the time. The graduating cadets were required to live in quarantine for the two weeks leading up to the speech, confined to their dorms and being required to stay in assigned cohorts. 15 had tested positive for COVID-19, though officials said that no one else was infected.

Illinois US Senator Tammy Duckworth, who lost both of her legs serving as a helicopter pilot in the Iraq War, was among the most outspoken critics of the decision:

15 of the cadets tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after their return.

The New York Times – Graduating West Point Cadets Isolate for Two Weeks Ahead of Trump Speech
The New York Times – 15 West Point Cadets Test Positive for Coronavirus
Vanity Fair – Trump Is Making Cadets Return To Campus So He Can Give A Speech
CNN – Trump says he’ll deliver West Point graduation speech to socially distanced crowd