/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5f52a9523d8b3760b074b0ae/0x0.jpg?cropX1=0&cropX2=6000&cropY1=397&cropY2=3772&w=1200&resize=1200,675&ssl=1 "Some Top Officials Come To Trump’s Defense—But Don’t Deny He Called Vets ‘Losers’")
TOPLINE
Amid the frenzy caused by an article from the Atlantic claiming President Trump disparaged fallen World War I troops during a planned visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018, top administration officials have quickly come to Trump’s defense Friday, without actually denying the allegations.
U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC.
(Photo by Anna Moneymaker-Pool/Getty Images)
KEY FACTS
Defense Secretary Mark Esper defended Trump, saying, “President Trump has the highest respect and admiration for our nation’s military members, veterans and families,” without explicitly denying Trump called fallen World War I soldiers “losers” and “suckers” while in France, according to Politico.
Vice President Mike Pence told CNBC the incident “never happened,” but admitted he wasn’t in Paris at the time.
When asked if generals John Kelly and Joseph Dunford, who were reportedly with Trump at the time of the cancelled cemetery visit, would share his view that no one “cares more deeply about the men and women of our armed forces than President Trump,” Pence skirted the question and said he “rejects the [Atlantic] story, out of hand.”
Keith Kellogg, Pence’s National Security Advisor, tweeted his support for Trump, saying the Atlantic story “absolutely lacks merit” and that Trump has “always shown the highest respect to our active duty troops and veterans.”
Trump’s defenders all mention his deep respect for the military, though he has a history of divisive remarks when it comes to the armed forces, including calling John McCain a ‘loser’ for getting captured in Vietnam, calling former Secretary of Defense James Mattis the “worlds most overrated general,” and insulting veterans and their families.
Key Background
The Atlantic report, citing four anonymous senior staffers, claims that Trump canceled a planned trip to Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris because bad weather that day would have ruined his hair. “Why should I go to that cemetery?” Trump reportedly said, “It’s filled with losers.” Trump later claimed his helicopter was grounded due to bad weather as the reason the trip was cancelled. Trump’s supporters say the story is completely false and the anonymous sources fabricated, but just hours after the Atlantic released its story, the Associated Press confirmed the events citing “a senior Defense Department official with firsthand knowledge of events and a senior U.S. Marine Corps officer who was told about Trump’s comments.”
Further Reading
Did Trump call US war dead “losers” and “suckers”? The controversy, explained. (Vox)
Here’s the problem for Donald Trump with the Atlantic story (CNN)
Report: Trump Called U.S. WWI Veterans ‘Suckers’ And ‘Losers’ (Forbes)
Trump: Americans Who Died in War Are ‘Losers’ and ‘Suckers’ (The Atlantic)
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