Trump reportedly disparaged US soldiers killed in World War I as ‘losers’ and ‘suckers’

A new report details multiple instances of President Donald Trump making disparaging remarks about members of the US military who have been captured or killed, including referring to the American war dead at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France in 2018 as “losers” and “suckers”.

The allegations were first reported in The Atlantic. A senior Defence Department official with first-hand knowledge of events confirmed some of the remarks, including the 2018 cemetery comments.

The defence official said Trump made the comments as he decided against visiting the cemetery outside Paris during a meeting following his presidential daily briefing on the morning of November 10, 2018.

Staffers from the National Security Council and the Secret Service told Trump that rainy weather made helicopter travel to the cemetery risky, but they could drive there. Trump responded by saying he didn’t want to visit the cemetery because it was “filled with losers”, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorised to discuss it publicly.

In another conversation on the trip, The Atlantic said, Trump referred to the 1,800 Marines who died in the World War I battle of Belleau Wood as “suckers” for getting killed.

“This report is patently false,” White House strategic communications director Alyssa Farah said. “President Trump holds the military in the highest regard. He’s demonstrated his commitment to them at every turn: delivering on his promise to give our troops a much needed pay raise, increasing military spending, signing critical veterans reforms, and supporting military spouses. These nameless anecdotes have no basis in fact and are offensive fiction.”