WASHINGTON 鈥 President Donald Trump celebrated news Monday that an alumni group from West Point canceled an award ceremony to honor Tom Hanks, with the president calling the famous actor 鈥渄estructive鈥 and 鈥淲OKE.鈥

Tom Hanks arrives at the 15th Governors Awards on Nov. 17, 2024, at The Ray Dolby Ballroom in Los Angeles.
Hanks was scheduled to receive the 2025 Sylvanus Thayer Award on Sept. 25, but the U.S. Military Academy's alumni association canceled the ceremony last week, according to news reports.
鈥淚mportant move!鈥 Trump said in a post on his social media network Monday. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 need destructive, WOKE recipients getting our cherished American Awards!!! Hopefully the Academy Awards, and other Fake Award Shows, will review their Standards and Practices in the name of Fairness and Justice.鈥
West Point, its alumni association and a representative for Hanks did not immediately respond to messages and calls seeking comment Monday.
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It comes as Trump moved to direct the ideology and leadership of higher education institutes and the military in his second term, seeking to assert control with a mix of executive orders and threats of legal action and withholding funds.
This summer, the Army secretary directed West Point to review its hiring practices, bar outside groups from choosing employees and remove a newly announced hire who led the nation鈥檚 cybersecurity agency under then-President Joe Biden.
Earlier this year, West Point disbanded a dozen cadet clubs centered on ethnicity, gender, race and sexuality in response to the Trump administration鈥檚 push to eliminate diversity programs throughout government. The school also rehung a painting of Gen. Robert E. Lee dressed in his Confederate uniform in the library as the Trump administration has pushed to restore Confederate names and monuments that have been removed in recent years.
The Sylvanus Thayer Award is named for an early superintendent of the military academy who is known as the 鈥淔ather of West Point." It has been given out every year since 1958 鈥渢o an outstanding citizen of the United States whose service and accomplishments in the national interest exemplify personal devotion to the ideals expressed in West Point鈥檚 motto: 鈥楧uty, Honor, Country,鈥欌 according to the West Point Association of Graduates.
鈥淭om Hanks has done more for the positive portrayal of the American service member, more for the caring of the American veteran, their caregivers and their family, and more for the American space program and all branches of government than many other Americans,鈥 association board chairman Robert McDonald said in a June press release about the award.

President Donald Trump speaks at a hearing of the Religious Liberty Commission at the Museum of the Bible on Monday in Washington.
Retired Army Col. Mark Bieger, president and chief executive officer of the association, wrote in an email Friday that the decision to call off the award ceremony 鈥渁llows the Academy to continue its focus on its core mission of preparing cadets to lead, fight, and win as officers in the world鈥檚 most lethal force, the United States Army,鈥 according to The Washington Post, which was first to report on the cancellation.
Last year's recipient was former President Barack Obama.
Hanks is among Hollywood鈥檚 most politically active celebrities, donating to support a slew of Democratic politicians and progressive causes. He vocally endorsed Obama, Hillary Clinton and Biden in their presidential bids and signed an open letter endorsing Kamala Harris last year.
He鈥檚 also gone to work for the Democrats. In 2012, he narrated a short documentary, 鈥淭he Road We鈥檝e Traveled,鈥 for Obama鈥檚 reelection campaign.
To fete Biden鈥檚 inauguration in 2021, Hanks hosted a 90-minute prime-time television special, 鈥淐elebrating America.鈥
A year later, he narrated a two-minute ad spot from the Biden Inaugural Committee touting the accomplishments of the president鈥檚 first term. He also served as a celebrity co-chair for When We All Vote, a nonpartisan civic engagement organization founded by former first lady Michelle Obama to boost voter outreach.
And for the better part of the past decade, Hanks has made no secret of his disapproval of Trump and the president鈥檚 policies. He called the then-Republican candidate a 鈥渟elf-involved gasbag鈥 during an on-stage interview in 2016. After Trump took office, Hanks said during an American Civil Liberties Union fundraiser that actions like the attempted travel ban for Muslim-majority countries represented a 鈥渂rand of tragedy.鈥
During Biden鈥檚 inauguration, he spoke of 鈥渄eep divisions and a troubling rancor in our land鈥 and warned against attempts to twist the truth by those entrusted with public service during a 2023 Harvard commencement speech. Just this past year, he stoked the ire of Trump supporters after depicting a caricature of one during the 50th anniversary special of 鈥淪aturday Night Live.鈥
Scenes from the West Point commencement ceremony

President Donald Trump arrives to deliver the commencement speech for the United States Military Academy graduating cadets in West Point, N.Y., Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

United States Military Academy graduating cadets listen as President Donald Trump speaks during commencement ceremonies in West Point, N.Y., Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Sisters Bonnie Dove, 3, and Hazel Dove, 5, play infront of their parents Lily Dove, 34, and Major Jonathan Dove, who is a West Point instructor, during the United States Military Academy commencement ceremonies in West Point, N.Y., Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Rachel Ryu, 7, holds the hats of United States Military Academy graduating cadets after the hats were tossed at the end of commencement ceremonies in West Point, N.Y., Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy A. George, left, and Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll, right, stand with the "goat" cadet, or lowest-ranking class member, Temon Michael-Malik Birchett, who is holding the traditional bag of money in collections from peers, during the United States Military Academy commencement ceremonies in West Point, N.Y., Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

President Donald Trump arrives for United States Military Academy commencement ceremonies in West Point, N.Y., Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)