Watch: Trump honors special forces who helped capture Venezuela’s Maduro

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — President Donald Trump celebrated the Special Forces personnel who ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, saying last month’s daring raid meant “the whole world saw what the full military might” of the United States could do and made sure we were “feared” by potential enemies around the world.

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Addressing soldiers and their families at Fort Bragg, one of the largest military bases in the world, Trump declared, “Your Commander in Chief fully supports you.” Then, drawing on one of his campaign slogans, he implored them: “When necessary, you will fight, fight, fight. You will win, win, win.”

Read more: Trump says US used secret ‘jamming tool’ on Venezuelan equipment during Maduro raid

The President and First Lady Melania Trump also met privately with military families. But the visit seemed more like a political gathering than an official visit to celebrate the US armed forces. Trump’s praise of the raid that ousted Maduro came only after he called to the stage Michael Whatley, the president’s former Republican National Committee chairman who is now running for Senate in North Carolina.

Whatley thanked Trump and suggested the president “gives me a chance to represent you” — even though the election won’t be held until November.

Later, Trump said of the Jan. 3 raid that whisked Maduro away to face U.S. drug smuggling charges: “It only took a few minutes before he was put on a helicopter.” He described the troops involved as “some of our greatest soldiers who have ever lived, frankly,” while describing Maduro as a “lawless dictator.”

“That night the whole world saw what the full military power of the American Army is capable of,” the president said. “It was so precise, so unbelievable.”

Trump also pledged, “As long as I’m president, we will be the best-led, best-trained, best-equipped, most disciplined and most elite fighting force the world has ever seen” and noted to potential US adversaries, “Everyone knows it.”

“They know exactly what they’re up against,” Trump said. “And hopefully we’ll never have to test them, and because of our strength, because of what we’re doing, we probably won’t have to test them.”

Read more: How US forces arrested Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in Caracas

However, the president mentioned sending a second aircraft carrier group to the Middle East amid escalating tensions with Iran, and said: “America is respected again. And perhaps more importantly, enemies around the world fear us.”

“I don’t like to say fear,” he said. “But, sometimes, you have to have fear, because that’s the only thing that’s really going to cure the situation.”

Trump has recently traveled frequently to states that could play key roles in November’s midterm congressional elections, including a pre-Christmas stop in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The White House is trying to promote Trump’s economic policies, including attempts to lower the cost of living at a time when many people are frustrated by his efforts to improve affordability.

The president did not spend much time on his economic policies Friday, though he did mention how the White House-backed tax and spending package would increase funding for military housing.

Meanwhile, as he left the White House to make the trip, Trump welcomed data released on Friday that showed inflation fell to a five-year low last month.

“The numbers were surprising, but they were not surprising to me,” Trump said. “We have very modest inflation, which is what you want.”

The president also spoke at Fort Bragg in June at an event intended to commemorate the Army’s 250th anniversary. But this celebration was overshadowed by his partisan statements in which he described protesters in Los Angeles as “animals” and his defense of the deployment of the army there.

This time, Trump invoked the fatal stabbing of a Ukrainian refugee on a commuter train in North Carolina, calling the man accused of the crime a “monster.”

Also Friday, Trump praised Maduro’s replacement, acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez. Instead of pushing for elections in Venezuela, Trump says his administration is calling on major oil companies there to rebuild their energy industry. US officials also seized the tankers as part of their broad oversight of the country’s oil industry.

“The relationship is strong, and the oil is flowing,” Trump told reporters before heading to North Carolina. He added: “We have big oil companies coming in here, and they will pump oil and sell it for a lot of money.”

Weissert reported from Washington.