Here is the full list of comments made regarding veterans and military service…
• says Americans who died in war are “losers” and “suckers.”
• “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers” he said about a U.S. military cemetery
• 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
• “That guy is smart. Why did he join the military?” Trump said of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
• asked his staff to not include wounded veterans because amputees make him uncomfortable
• “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
• 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
• In May ‘20, the White House ended National Guard deployments one day before they could claim benefits
• 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
• Trump fired the captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt after he warned superiors that COVID19 was spreading among his crew
• After Iran’s retaliatory strike, 109 US troops suffered brain injuries. Trump dismissed these as “headaches”
• 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”
• Said 26,000 military sexual assaults were to be ‘expected’ bc America lets women serve
• Invited the Taliban to Camp David on the anniversary of 9/11
• Claimed that his military budget made up for his lack of military experience
• Claimed if a Humvee was hit by an IED, soldiers “go for a little ride upward & they come down.”
• 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)
• 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
• 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.
• Russia took control of the main U.S. military facility in Syria abandoned on Trump’s orders. Russia now owns the airstrip we built
• On 10/7/19, Trump abruptly withdrew from Syria after a phone call with Turkey’s president (Erdogan). Turkey subsequently bombed US Special Forces.
• sent thousands of American troops to defend the oil assets of the country that perpetrated 9/11
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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
• Children of deployed US troops no longer guaranteed citizenship (August 28, 2019)
• On 8/2/19 Trump requisitioned military retirement funds for the border wall
• On 7/31/19 Trump ordered the Navy rescind medals to prosecutors who were prosecuted war criminals
• denied a U.S. Marine of 6 years entry into the United States for his citizenship interview (Reported 7/17/19)
• made the U.S. Navy Blue Angels violate ethics rules by having them fly at his July 4th political campaign event (July 4, 2019)
• 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 for a better “aesthetic appearance”
• used his D-Day interview at a cemetery commemorating fallen US soldiers to attack a Vietnam veteran (6/6/19)
• started his D-Day commemoration speech by attacking a private citizen (Bette Midlere) (2019)
• 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 bc they were from the destroyer USS John S. McCain
• 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)
• purged 200,000 vets’ healthcare applications (reported 5/13/19)
• deported a spouse of fallen Army soldier killed in Afghanistan, leaving their daughter parentless (April 16, 2019)
• On 3/20/19 Trump complained that a deceased war hero didn’t thank him for his funeral
• 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
• banned troops from serving based on gender identity (1/22/2019)
• denied female troops access to birth control to limit sexual activity (on-going. Published 1/18/19)
• tried to deport a marine vet who is a U.S.-born citizen (Jan 16, 2019)
• When a man was caught swindling veterans pensions for high-interest “cash advances," Trump’s CFPB let him go for $1 (1/26/19)
• called a retired general a ‘dog’ with a ‘big, dumb mouth’ (1/1/19)
• increased privatization of the VA, leading to longer waits and higher taxpayer cost (2018)
• finally visited troops 2 years after taking office, but only after 154 vacation days at his properties (10/26/18)
• revealed a covert Seal Team 5 deployment, including names and faces, on Twitter during his visit to Iraq (Dec 26, 2018)
• 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
• fired service members living with HIV just before the 2018 holidays
• tried to slash disability and unemployment benefits for Veterans to $0 and eliminate the unemployability extrascheduler rating (Dec 17, 2018)
• called troops on Thanksgiving and told them he’s most thankful for himself (Thanksgiving, 2018)
• urged Florida to not count deployed military votes (Nov 12, 2018)
• 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)
• 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)
• 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)
• doubled the rejection rate for veterans requesting family deportation protections (July 5, 2018)
• deported active-duty spouses (11,800 military families face this problem as of April 2018)
• forgot a fallen soldier’s name (below) during a call to his pregnant widow, then attacked her the next day (Oct 23-24, 2017)
• "They knew what they signed up for." re: dead troops (10/18/17)
• 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
• 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
• blocked a veteran group on Twitter (June 2017)
• ordered the discharge of active-duty immigrant troops with good records (2017-present)
• deported veterans (2017-present)
• said he knows more about ISIS than American generals (Oct 2016)
• On 10/4/16 Trump said vets get PTSD because they aren’t strong
• 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)
• Trump attacks Gold Star families: Myeshia Johnson (gold star widow), Khan family (gold star parents) etc. (2016-present)
• In Jan 2016, Trump sent funds raised from a veterans benefit to the Donald J Trump Foundation (the foundation was subsequently ordered shut down)
• 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)
• said he doesn’t consider POWs heroes because they were caught. He said he prefers people who weren’t caught (July 18, 2015)
• Trump said having unprotected sex was his own personal Vietnam (1998)
• For a decade, Trump sought to kick veterans off of Fifth Avenue because he found them unsightly nuisances. 1991
• Trump dodged the draft 5 times by having a doctor diagnose him with bone spurs.
• 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
