Last month saw Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth prohibit gender transition surgeries within the military and reverse other policies that have been denounced by critics as being "woke."

President Donald Trump drew attention to those orders earlier this week while addressing a joint session of Congress.

Trump: "Our service members won’t be activists and ideologues"

"Wokeness is trouble. Wokeness is bad," Breitbart quoted the president as saying when he stood before lawmakers on Tuesday evening.

"It's gone," Trump asserted. "It's gone, and we feel so much better for it, don’t we? Don't we feel better our service members won’t be activists and ideologues?"

The commander-in-chief then pledged that members of the armed services are going to "be fighters and warriors" who "will fight for our country."

Trump then went on to link his administration's renunciation of his predecessor's approach with a recent upsurge in military recruiting numbers.

President points to a sharp increase in military recruiting numbers

"I am pleased to report that in January, the U.S. Army had its single best recruiting month in 15 years, and that all armed services are having among the best recruiting results ever in the history of our services. What a difference," he said.

"It was just a few months ago where the results were exactly the opposite. We couldn’t recruit anywhere. We couldn’t recruit," Trump recalled.

"Now, we’re having the best results just about that we’ve ever had. What a tremendous turnaround. It’s really a beautiful thing to see people love our country again," he stressed.

"It's very simple. They love our country and they love being in our military again. So it’s a great thing, and thank you very much," the president added.

Son of late sheriff's deputy allowed to enter West Point

What's more, Breitbart noted how Trump took a moment to recognize Jason Hartley, the son of a deceased LA County Sheriff's Deputy.

President Trump just surprised high school senior Jason Hartley -- who tragically lost his father, an LA County Sheriff's Deputy -- of his acceptance to the United States Military Academy! pic.twitter.com/7MkwyoPDJt

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 5, 2025

The president highlighted Hartley's academic prowess before announcing that his wish to attend the United States Military Academy had been granted.

"I'm pleased to inform you that your application has been accepted. You will soon be joining the corps of cadets. Jason, you’re going to be on the long gray line," Trump informed Harley.