Trump's Airports Speech: What Was Really Said?

During a Fourth of July speech in 2019, then-US President Donald Trump claimed that US troops took over airports during the Revolutionary War in the 1770s. This statement was erroneous, as airports and military airplanes were not invented until the 20th century, with the first successful airplane flown in 1903. Trump's comment sparked mockery and criticism, with some attributing it to a faulty teleprompter, while others questioned the president's knowledge of history. This incident added to a list of history-related gaffes made by Trump during his presidency.

Trump's historical blunder

On July 4, 2019, then-President Donald Trump made a historical blunder during his "Salute to America" speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. In his address, Trump stated that the Continental Army "took over the airports" during the American Revolutionary War in the 1770s. This comment sparked mockery and criticism, as airplanes and airports did not exist until the 20th century, with the first successful airplane flight occurring in 1903.

Trump's exact words were:

> Our army manned the air, it rammed the ramparts, it took over the airports, it did everything it had to do, and at Fort McHenry, under the rockets' red glare, it had nothing but victory.

Trump's reference to airports was not his only historical inaccuracy in the speech. He also mentioned Fort McHenry and the "rocket's red glare," which was a reference to the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812, not the Revolutionary War.

In response to the backlash, Trump blamed the mistake on technical difficulties with the teleprompter, saying that it was challenging to read due to the rain. However, this explanation did not stop the internet from poking fun at the error, with numerous memes and comical parodies circulating online.

This incident was not the first time Trump had made history-related errors during his presidency. In 2017, he claimed that Andrew Jackson could have prevented the Civil War, despite Jackson dying 16 years before it began. Additionally, during a phone call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2018, Trump incorrectly asserted that Canada burned down the White House during the War of 1812, when it was actually British troops.

Trump's "airports" comment during the Independence Day speech became a notable example of his tendency to make historical blunders, with critics pointing to it as evidence of his administration's incompetence or his own struggles with reading.

Continental Army and airports

During his Fourth of July "Salute to America" speech in 2019, former US President Donald Trump claimed that the Continental Army "took over the airports" during the American Revolutionary War in the 1770s. This statement was made during his tribute to the army in his hour-long speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.

Trump's exact words were:

> "In June of 1775, the Continental Congress created a unified army out of the revolutionary forces encamped around Boston and New York … The Continental Army suffered a bitter winter of Valley Forge, found glory across the waters of the Delaware, and seized victory from Cornwallis of Yorktown. Our army manned the air, it rammed the ramparts, it took over the airports, it did everything it had to do, and at Fort McHenry, under the rockets’ red glare, it had nothing but victory."

Trump's reference to airports sparked mockery and jokes online, as airports and military airplanes were a 20th-century invention. The first powered flight of an airplane was achieved by the Wright brothers in 1903, a fact that Trump himself acknowledged earlier in his speech. This contradiction led to the creation of hashtags like #RevolutionaryWarAirports and #RevolutionaryWarAirportStories, with Twitter users writing comical parodies in the form of letters by Revolutionary War soldiers about their airport troubles.

In response to the backlash, Trump blamed a faulty teleprompter for the mistake, stating that it "went out" and became difficult to read due to rain. However, this was not the only historical confusion in his speech. Trump's reference to Fort McHenry and "rockets' red glare" belonged to the War of 1812, not the Revolutionary War.

Trump blames the teleprompter

During his Fourth of July "Salute to America" speech in 2019, President Donald Trump claimed that the Continental Army "took over the airports" during the American Revolutionary War in the 1770s. This statement was factually inaccurate, as airports and military airplanes were not invented until the 20th century.

Trump addressed the gaffe the next day, blaming it on technical difficulties with the teleprompter. He told reporters:

> "The teleprompter did go out and it was actually hard to look at anyway because there was rain all over it but despite the rain, it was just a fantastic evening."

Trump also claimed that he knew the speech very well and did not need to rely on the teleprompter.

This is not the first time Trump has made history-related errors. In 2017, he argued that Andrew Jackson could have prevented the Civil War, despite Jackson having died 16 years before it started. Trump has also previously criticised former President Barack Obama for relying on an autocue.

Twitter backlash

In a tweet on 28 January 2017, then-US President Donald Trump stated:

> "It's not a Muslim ban," Trump says. " [But] you see it at the airports, you see it all over. It's working out very nicely."

This tweet sparked a backlash on Twitter, with users criticising Trump's characterisation of the situation at airports as well as his immigration policies more broadly.

One user, Charlotte M. Freeman (@charlottemf406), accused Trump of creating social chaos and expressed concern about potential military action, stating: "I'm seriously worried about him bombing Chicago like Assad destroyed Aleppo .....". Another user, Mitch (@Uncamitzi), highlighted the existence of "extreme vetting" measures and the low odds of dying from terrorist attacks, while also accusing Trump of catering to undereducated voters.

In response to Trump's tweet, Justin Caffier (@JustinCaffier) described the issues at airports as a result of Trump's "racist Muslim ban". This characterisation was disputed by Andrew Sampson (@Arcanis_). who argued that "Muslim isn't a race". The two users proceeded to debate the nature of the ban and the validity of their respective arguments.

Trump's attempt to shift blame for the airport issues was also called out by Twitter users. Aléx Young (@AlexYoung) directly challenged Trump, stating: "Stop deflecting". Another user, Candid Observations (@CandidObservist), attributed the problems at airports to protests rather than a Delta computer outage as claimed by Trump.

Trump's other historical errors

During his time in office, Donald Trump has made tens of thousands of false or misleading claims. In fact, fact-checkers at The Washington Post documented 30,573 false or misleading claims during his presidential term, an average of about 21 per day.

• Trump claimed that his father, Fred Trump, was born in Germany. In fact, Fred Trump was born in the Bronx, New York.
• Trump stated that the US had the "biggest" coronavirus vaccine rollout in history. In reality, other countries such as Israel, the UK, and the UAE had vaccinated a higher proportion of their populations at the time.
• Trump claimed that he passed the largest tax cuts in history. In reality, the 2017 tax cuts were not the largest in US history.
• Trump said that the US economy during his tenure was the greatest in US history. However, this is subjective and cannot be proven.
• Trump asserted that he rebuilt the US military. In reality, military spending increased under Trump, but he did not "rebuild" the military from scratch.
• Trump falsely claimed that he had created the Veterans Choice program, which allows eligible veterans to receive government funding for healthcare provided outside the VA system. In fact, this program was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2014.
• Trump stated that he had received the biggest inauguration crowd in history. However, aerial photographs showed that the crowd for Trump's inauguration was smaller than that of Barack Obama's inauguration in 2009.
• Trump claimed that he had received the most votes in US history during the 2020 election. In reality, Joe Biden received more votes than any other presidential candidate in history.
• Trump asserted that he had won the 2020 election. In fact, Joe Biden won the election, receiving 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232.

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