Here’s 80+ things our President has said—or done—with sources, against our own Military.
Thing is, even those of you who support him after all these years…know in your bones the latest, linked above, sounds just like him.
So. An American President who doesn’t get why we fought WWII against the Nazis? Hold my beer. We’re just getting started:
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says Americans who died in war are “losers” and “suckers.”
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“Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers” he said about a U.S. military cemetery
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called John McCain “a fucking loser” when asked to lower flags to half staff
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called President George H.W. Bush a loser for being shot down during WWII
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“That guy is smart. Why did he join the military?” Trump said of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
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asked his staff to not include wounded veterans because amputees make him uncomfortable
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“I don’t get it. What was in it for them?” Trump said to Gen. John Kelly about dead veterans, while visiting Kelly’s son’s grave at Arlington
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Trump knew since Mar 2020 that Russia paid bounties to kill American troops. On July 29, Trump defended Russia arming the Taliban against the US saying the US once did the same thing
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In May ’20, the White House ended National Guard deployments one day before they could claim benefits
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The Trump admin seized 5mil masks intended for VA hospitals. Kushner distributes these masks to private entities for a fee, who then sells the masks to the government
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Trump fired the captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt after he warned superiors that COVID19 was spreading among his crew
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After Iran’s retaliatory strike, 109 US troops suffered brain injuries. Trump dismissed these as “headaches”
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On July 20, 2017, in room 2E924 of the Pentagon, Trump told a room full of Generals, “You’re a bunch of dopes and babies”
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Said 26,000 military sexual assaults were to be ‘expected’ bc America lets women serve
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Invited the Taliban to Camp David on the anniversary of 9/11
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Claimed that his military budget made up for his lack of military experience
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Claimed if a Humvee was hit by an IED, soldiers “go for a little ride upward & they come down.”
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Pardoned multiple war criminals, which betrayed the men of the 1st Platoon who helped convict him for violating long standing military values, discipline, and command (May&Nov, 2019)
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Trump mocked Lt. Col. Vindman for his rank and uniform. He threatened said purple heart officer resulting in the Army providing him protection. The Admin sent opposition research to the Pentagon to derail his promotion
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Trump’s Chief of Staff worked—in secret—to deny comprehensive health coverage to Vietnam Vets who suffered from Agent Orange.
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There is a facility in Tijuana for US veterans that Trump deported.
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Russia took control of the main U.S. military facility in Syria abandoned on Trump’s orders. Russia now owns the airstrip we built
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On 10/7/19, Trump abruptly withdrew from Syria after a phone call with Turkey’s president (Erdogan). Turkey subsequently bombed US Special Forces.
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sent thousands of American troops to defend the oil assets of the country that perpetrated 9/11
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In Sept 2019, he made an Air Force cargo crew stop in Scotland (where there’s no U.S. base) to refuel at a commercial airport (where it costs more), so they could stay overnight at a Trump property (which isn’t close to the airport). Trump’s golf courses are losing money so he’s forcing the military to pay for 5-star nights there.
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In Sept, 2019, Pentagon pulled funds for military schools, military housing funds, and daycare to pay for Trump’s border wall.
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In Aug, 2019, emails revealed that 3 of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago pals, running the VA, are rampant with meddling. None of them served in the military, have experience in the VA, nor underwent any approval process. Yet they directed operations without any oversight.
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Vet graves will be “dug up” for the border wall, after Trump instructed aides to seize private property. Trump told officials he would pardon them if they illegally seizing property
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Children of deployed US troops no longer guaranteed citizenship (August 28, 2019)
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On 8/2/19 Trump requisitioned military retirement funds for the border wall
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On 7/31/19 Trump ordered the Navy rescind medals to prosecutors who were prosecuted war criminals
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denied a U.S. Marine of 6 years entry into the United States for his citizenship interview (Reported 7/17/19)
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made the U.S. Navy Blue Angels violate ethics rules by having them fly at his July 4th political campaign event (July 4, 2019)
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demanded US military chiefs stand next to him at 4th of July parade (reported July 2, 2019)
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In June 2019, Trump sent troops to the border to paint the fence for a better “aesthetic appearance”
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used his D-Day interview at a cemetery commemorating fallen US soldiers to attack a Vietnam veteran (6/6/19)
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started his D-Day commemoration speech by attacking a private citizen (Bette Midlere) (2019)
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made his 2nd wife, Marla Maples, sign a prenup that would have cut off all child support if Tiffany joined the military (reported June 4th, 2019)
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On May 27, 2019, Trump turned away US military from his Memorial Day speech bc they were from the destroyer USS John S. McCain
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ordered the USS John McCain out of sight during his visit to Japan (May 15, 2019). The ship’s name was subsequently covered. (May 27, 2019)
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purged 200,000 vets’ healthcare applications (reported 5/13/19)
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deported a spouse of fallen Army soldier killed in Afghanistan, leaving their daughter parentless (April 16, 2019)
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On 3/20/19 Trump complained that a deceased war hero didn’t thank him for his funeral
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Between 12/22/2018, and 1/25/2019 Trump refused to sign his party’s funding bill, which shut down the government, which made USCG service members rely on food pantries. However, his appointees got a $10k pay raise
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banned troops from serving based on gender identity (1/22/2019)
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denied female troops access to birth control to limit sexual activity (on-going. Published 1/18/19)
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tried to deport a marine vet who is a U.S.-born citizen (Jan 16, 2019)
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When a man was caught swindling veterans pensions for high-interest “cash advances,” Trump’s CFPB let him go for $1 (1/26/19)
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called a retired general a ‘dog’ with a ‘big, dumb mouth’ (1/1/19)
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increased privatization of the VA, leading to longer waits and higher taxpayer cost (2018)
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finally visited troops 2 years after taking office, but only after 154 vacation days at his properties (10/26/18)
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revealed a covert Seal Team 5 deployment, including names and faces, on Twitter during his visit to Iraq (Dec 26, 2018)
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lied to deployed troops that he gave them a 10% raise (12/26/2018). Tried giving a raise that was lower than the standard living adjustment. Congress told him that wasn’t going to work. After giving them the raise that Congress made him, he lied about it pretending that it was larger than Obama’s. It wasn’t
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fired service members living with HIV just before the 2018 holidays
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tried to slash disability and unemployment benefits for Veterans to $0 and eliminate the unemployability extrascheduler rating (Dec 17, 2018)
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called troops on Thanksgiving and told them he’s most thankful for himself (Thanksgiving, 2018)
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urged Florida to not count deployed military votes (Nov 12, 2018)
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canceled an Arlington Cemetery visit on Veterans Day due to light rain (Nov 12, 2018)
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While in Europe commemorating the end of WWI, he didn’t attend the ceremony at a US cemetery due to the rain. Other world leaders went anyway (Nov 10, 2018)
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sent troops on a phantom mission to the border and made them miss Thanksgiving with their families (Oct-Dec, 2018). He stopped using troops as a political prop after the election, but the troops remained in muddy camps on the border (Nov 7, 2018)
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changed the GI Bill through his Forever GI Act causing the VA to miss benefits, including housing allowances. This caused many vets to run out of food and rent. (reported 10/7/18)
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doubled the rejection rate for veterans requesting family deportation protections (July 5, 2018)
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deported active-duty spouses (11,800 military families face this problem as of April 2018)
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forgot a fallen soldier’s name (below) during a call to his pregnant widow, then attacked her the next day (Oct 23-24, 2017)
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“They knew what they signed up for.” re: dead troops (10/18/17)
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sent commandos into an ambush w/ lack of intel, and sent contractors to pick them up, resulting in a commando being left behind, tortured, and executed. He approved the mission bc Bannon told him Obama didn’t have the guts to do it. 10/4/17
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Doesn’t stand during retreat bugle, continues to talk. “What a nice sound that is. Are they playing that for you [Sean Hannity] or me?” 10/11/17
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blocked a veteran group on Twitter (June 2017)
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ordered the discharge of active-duty immigrant troops with good records (2017-present)
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deported veterans (2017-present)
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said he knows more about ISIS than American generals (Oct 2016)
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On 10/4/16 Trump said vets get PTSD because they aren’t strong
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Trump accepted a Purple Heart from a fan at one of his rallies and said: “I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier.” (Aug 2, 2016)
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Trump attacks Gold Star families: Myeshia Johnson (gold star widow), Khan family (gold star parents) etc. (2016-present)
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In Jan 2016, Trump sent funds raised from a veterans benefit to the Donald J Trump Foundation (the foundation was subsequently ordered shut down)
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said he has “more training militarily than a lot of the guys that go into the military” because he went to a military-style academy (2015 biography)
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said he doesn’t consider POWs heroes because they were caught. He said he prefers people who weren’t caught (July 18, 2015)
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Trump said having unprotected sex was his own personal Vietnam (1998)
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For a decade, Trump sought to kick veterans off of Fifth Avenue because he found them unsightly nuisances. 1991
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Trump dodged the draft 5 times by having a doctor diagnose him with bone spurs.
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No Trump in America has ever served in the military; this spans 5 generations and every branch of the family tree. In fact, the reason his grandfather immigrated to America was to avoid military service
Citations
says Americans who died in war are “losers” and “suckers.”
“Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers,”
called John McCain “a fucking loser” when asked to lower flags to half staff.
called President George H.W. Bush a loser for being shot down during WWII.
said “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?” To Gen. John Kelly — while visiting Kelly’s son’s grave at Arlington.
“That guy is smart. Why did he join the military?” re: Joint Chiefs of Staff, he said asked his staff to not include wounded veterans in events because amputees make him uncomfortable.
Trump defended Russia from arming the Taliban against US Troops, saying the US did that once
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-appears-to-defend-russia-arming-the-taliban-against-us-troops
Trump knew since Mar 2020 that Russia paid bounties to kill American troops, yet he has done nothing. he was briefed on options such as sanctions yet his admin has taken no action against russia for paying bounties for killing American and NATO troops.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/us/politics/russia-afghanistan-bounties.html
In May 2020, the White House was planning to end National Guard deployments one day before they could claim benefits, but after the massive public outcry, they backtracked and let Guard members continue on their orders.
The Trump admin seized 5 million masks intended for VA hospitals. Kushner distributes these masks to private entities for a fee, who then sells the masks to the government
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-admin-seizing-ppe/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/us/politics/coronavirus-fema-medical-supplies.html
Trump’s admin fired the captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt after he warned superiors that COVID19 was spreading among his crew. The virus subsequently spread amongst the crew.
After Iran’s retaliatory strike, 109 US troops suffered brain injuries. Trump dismissed these as “headaches” https://apnews.com/eabf6766d717a2dd518a3c6319bb2430
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/world/middleeast/trump-iraq-brain-injuries.html
Pardoned multiple war criminals, which stomped on long standing military values, discipline, and command. Trump has no military experience (May&Nov, 2019)
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/16/us/trump-pardon-military.html
Trump mocked Lt. Col. Vindman for his rank and uniform. He threatened said purple heart officer, resulting in the Army providing him protection. Sent opposition research to the Pentagon to derail Lt. Col. Vindman’s promotion
https://www.businessinsider.com/white-house-nsc-dirt-alexander-vindman-allegations-2020-7
Trump’s Chief of Staff worked—in secret—to deny comprehensive health coverage to Vietnam Vets who suffered from Agent Orange.
There is a facility in Tijuana for US veterans that Trump deported. Wounded war vet, Sen Duckworth (D) marked Veterans Day 2019 by visiting this facility
Russia took control of the main U.S. military facility in Syria abandoned on Trump’s orders. Russia now owns the airstrip we built
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/15/world/middleeast/kurds-syria-turkey.html
On Oct 7, 2019, Trump abruptly withdrew support from America’s allies in Syria after a phone call with Turkey’s president (Erdogan). Turkey subsequently bombed US Special Forces.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-administration-to-pull-troops-from-northern- syria-as-turkey-readies-offensive/2019/10/07/a965e466-e8b3-11e9-bafb-da248f8d5734_story.html https://www.npr.org/2019/10/07/767904589/shocking-trump-is-criticized-for-pulling-troops-from-syrian-border
In Sept 2019, he made an Air Force cargo crew, flying from the U.S. to Kuwait stop in Scotland (where there’s no U.S. base) to refuel at a commercial airport (where it costs more), so they could stay overnight at a Trump property (which isn’t close to the airport). Trump’s golf courses are losing money, so he’s forcing the military to pay for 5-star nights there.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/06/air-force-trump-scottish-retreat-1484337
In Sept, 2019, Pentagon pulled funds for military schools, military housing funds, and daycare to pay for Trump’s border wall.
In Aug, 2019, emails revealed that three of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago pals, who are now running Veterans Affairs, are rampant with meddling. “They had no experience in veterans affairs (none of them even served in the military) nor underwent any kind of approval process to serve as de facto managers. Yet, with Trump’s approval, they directed actions and criticized operations without any oversight. They wasted valuable staff time in hundreds of pages of communications and meetings, emails show. Emails reveal disdainful attitudes within the department to the trio’s meddling.”
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/25/politics/trump-mar-a-lago-crowd-va-emails/index.html
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/22/digital-health-platform-mar-a-lago-members-1676335
Trump instructed aides to seize private property some of which contain military service member remains.
https://apnews.com/ad6f6247154548c3b28db33ae6a5eae9
Trump told officials he would pardon them if they break the law by illegally seizing property.
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-08-28/trump-officials-border-wall-pardon
Children of deployed US troops are no longer guaranteed citizenship. This includes US troops posted abroad for years at a time (August 28, 2019)
On Aug 2, 2019, Trump requisitioned military retirement funds towards border wall
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/military-retirement-trump-wall/
On July 31, 2019, Trump ordered the Navy rescind medals to prosecutors who were prosecuted war criminals
Trump denied a U.S. Marine of 6 years entry into the United States for his citizenship interview (Reported July 17, 2019)
https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-07-17/marine-vet-denied-entry-us-scheduled-citizenship-interview
Trump made the U.S. Navy Blue Angels violate ethics rules by having them fly at his July 4th political campaign event (July 4, 2019)
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/07/trump-july-fourth-rally-hatch-act-violation.html
Trump demanded US military chiefs stand next to him at 4th of July parade (reported July 2, 2019)
In June, 2019, Trump sent troops to the border to paint the fence
continued
Trump used his D-Day interview at a cemetery commemorating fallen US soldiers to attack a Vietnam veteran (June 6, 2019)
Trump made his 2nd wife, Marla Maples, sign a prenup that would have cut off all child support if Tiffany joined the military (reported June 4th, 2019)
On May 27, 2019, Trump turned away US military from his Memorial Day speech because they were from the destroyer USS John S. McCain
https://www.businessinsider.com/uss-john-mccain-sailors-were-turned-away-from-trump-speech-2019-5
Trump ordered the USS John McCain out of sight during his visit to Japan (May 15, 2019). The ship’s name was subsequently covered. (May 27, 2019)
Trump’s admin did nothing to fix the purge of 200,000 vets’ healthcare applications (due to known administrative errors within VA’s enrollment system) even after a congressional testimony to point out the problem. (reported on May 13, 2019)
https://www.snopes.com/news/2019/06/07/trump-admin-va-applications/
Under Trump’s Admin, ICE deported a spouse of fallen Army soldier killed in Afghanistan, leaving their daughter parentless (April 16, 2019)
On March 20, 2019, Trump complained that a deceased war hero didn’t thank him for his funeral
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47642335
Between 12/22/2018, and 1/25/2019, Trump refused to sign his party’s funding bill, which shut down the government, forcing the Coast Guard to go without pay, which made service members rely on food pantries. and the generosity of private businesses like USAA and Navy Federal to cover their paychecks. However, his appointees got a $10,000 pay raise
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/01/trump-appointees-giant-raises-during-shutdown
He banned service members from serving based on gender identity (1/22/2019) https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/13/us/transgender-troops-ban.html
He tried to denied female troops access to birth control to limit sexual activity (on-going. Published Jan 18, 2019)
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/14/us/politics/court-trump-birth-control.html
He tried to deport a marine vet who is a U.S.-born citizen (Jan 16, 2019)
https://www.npr.org/2019/01/17/686188335/ice-tried-to-deport-this-u-s-citizen-and-marine-veteran
When a man was caught swindling veterans pensions for high-interest “cash advances,” Trump’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fined him $1 (Jan 26, 2019)
https://theintercept.com/2019/01/26/cfpb-mulvaney-discount/
He called a retired general a ‘dog’ with a ‘big, dumb mouth’ (Jan 1, 2019)
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/01/trump-mcchrystal-syria-troops-1077365
He increased privatization of the VA, leading to longer waits and higher taxpayer cost (2018)
https://psmag.com/social-justice/privatizing-the-v-a-is-not-cheap
He revealed a covert Seal Team 5 deployment, including names and faces, on Twitter during his visit to Iraq (Dec 26, 2018)
Trump lied to deployed troops that he gave them a 10% raise (12/26/2018).
He tried giving the military a raise that was lower than the standard living adjustment. Congress told him that idea wasn’t going to work. Then after giving them the raise that Congress made him, he lied about it pretending that it was larger than Obama’s. It wasn’t.
He fired service members living with HIV just before the 2018 holidays https://time.com/5485126/lawsuit-air-force-discharge-hiv-positive-members/
He tried to slash disability and unemployment benefits for Veterans to $0, and eliminate the unemployability extrascheduler rating (Dec 17, 2018) This means disabled veterans could have seen their annual disability benefits fall from around $35,000 to around $13,000 under Donald Trump’s budget proposal to cut “individual unemployability” for disabled veterans who were old enough to receive Social Security payments.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-disabled-veterans-cuts/
He called troops on Thanksgiving and told them he’s most thankful for himself (Thanksgiving, 2018)
https://www.denverpost.com/2018/11/22/trump-troops-thanksgiving/ medical-deferment-from-vietnam/ He urged Florida to not count deployed military votes (Nov 12, 2018)
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-military-votes-florida/
He canceled an Arlington Cemetery visit on Veterans Day due to light rain (Nov 12, 2018)
While in Europe commemorating the end of WWI, he didn’t attend the ceremony at a US cemetery due to the rain — other world leaders went anyway (Nov 10, 2018)
He used troops as a political prop by sending them on a phantom mission to the border and made them miss Thanksgiving with their families (Oct-Dec, 2018)
Trump changed the GI Bill through his Forever GI Act, causing the VA to miss veteran benefits, including housing allowances. This caused many vets to run out of food and rent. (reported October 7, 2018)
Trump doubled the rejection rate for veterans requesting family deportation protections (July 5, 2018)
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-doubled-rejection-rate-veterans-requesting-family-deportation-1010571
Trump deported active-duty spouses (11,800 military families face this problem as of April 2018)
He forgot a fallen soldier’s name (below) during a call to his pregnant widow, then attacked her the next day (Oct 23-24, 2017)
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/2017/10/23/fallen-soldiers-widow-nothing-to-say-to-trump/
He sent commandos into an ambush due to a lack of intel, and sends contractors to pick them up, resulting in a commando being left behind, tortured, and executed. (Trump approved the mission because Bannon told him Obama didn’t have the guts to do it) (Oct 4, 2017)
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/17/world/africa/niger-ambush-american-soldiers.html
https://apnews.com/cb0d6c63f3ed4415a0bd19e98175f792
Doesn’t stand during retreat bugle, continues to talk. “What a nice sound that is. Are they playing that for you [Sean Hannity] or me?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJyGXYq2lJ0
He ordered the discharge of active-duty immigrant troops with good records (2017-present)
On Oct 3, 2016, Trump said vets get PTSD because they aren’t strong
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/trump-veterans-ptsd-not-strong-229050
Trump accepted a Purple Heart from a fan at one of his rallies and said: “I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier.” (Aug 2, 2016)
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/trump-purple-heart-226565
If you know how service members receive purple hearts, then you should also realize how absurd it is for trump to say what he did.
Trump attacks Gold Star families: Myeshia Johnson (gold star widow), Khan family (gold star parents) etc. (2016-present)
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/31/us/politics/donald-trump-khizr-khan-wife-ghazala.html
Trump sent roughly half of funds raised from a Jan 2016 veterans benefit to the Donald J Trump Foundation instead of veterans charities (the foundation has since been ordered shut because of fraud) (Jan, 2016)
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/07/trump-ordered-to-pay-2-million-to-settle-trump-foundation-suit.html
Trump said he doesn’t consider POWs heroes because they were caught. He said he prefers people who were not caught (July 18, 2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=541Cg2Jnb8s
Trump said having unprotected sex was his own personal Vietnam (1998)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5SqQhqpNm8
Trump dodged the draft 5 times by having a doctor diagnose him with bone spurs.
via hero:
“Save this, then copy and paste it everywhere, without worrying about crediting me.”
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