Trump reportedly disparaged US soldiers killed in World War I as ‘losers’ and ‘suckers’
- The allegations, which were first reported in The Atlantic, date back to Trump’s 2018 visit to France, where he was scheduled to visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery
- According to the report, Trump referred to the 1,800 Marines who died in the World War I battle of Belleau Wood as ‘suckers’ for getting killed
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.”
“Duty, honour, country – those are the values that drive our service members,” he said in a statement on Thursday night. “I will ensure that our American heroes know that I will have their back and honour their sacrifice – always.”
The defence official also confirmed reporting in The Atlantic that Trump on Memorial Day 2017 had gone with his chief of staff, John Kelly, to visit the Arlington Cemetery grave site of Kelly’s son, Robert, who was killed in 2010 in Afghanistan, and said to Kelly: “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?”
In 2015, shortly after launching his presidential candidacy, Trump publicly blasted McCain, saying: “He’s not a war hero ... I like people who weren’t captured.”
Trump only amplified his criticism of McCain as the Arizona lawmaker grew critical of his acerbic style of politics, culminating in a late-night “no” vote scuttling Trump’s plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act. That vote shattered what few partisan loyalties bound the two men, and Trump has continued to attack McCain for that vote, even posthumously.
The magazine said Trump also referred to former President George H.W. Bush as a “loser” because he was shot down by the Japanese as a Navy pilot in World War II.
Keith Kellogg, national security adviser to Vice-President Mike Pence, tweeted on Thursday: “The Atlantic story is completely false. Absolutely lacks merit. I’ve been by the President’s side. He has always shown the highest respect to our active duty troops and veterans with utmost respect paid to those who have given the ultimate sacrifice and those wounded in battle.”
