It is sensitive for any president to watch flag-draped transport cases return home from abroad, a solemn tradition that honors the dead and highlights the human costs of conflict.
Donald Trump’s visit Saturday to Dover Air Force Base to honor the six U.S. service members killed in the war in the Middle East may be a particularly fraught moment for a president whose White House has done little to build public support for the conflict. He has too Record the controversy When it comes to talking about military service and sacrifice
Trump can be revered, as when he recently awarded the Medal of Honor to troops for bravery during past conflicts.
But he can also be terse or even dismissive. After launching attacks on Iran in coordination with Israel a week ago, Trump warned of the possibility of American casualties. When it comes to war, he said in a video message: “That’s how things are.”
The president often emphasizes the strength of the US armed forces and stories of individual heroism.
“Today, you have entered the ranks of the bravest warriors who have ever walked the face of the Earth,” Trump told the retired sergeant. Maj. Terry P. Richardson last week before presenting the Medal of Honor for actions during the Vietnam War that were credited with saving the lives of 85 other service members.
During his State of the Union address last month, Trump presented the same medal to Army Chief No. 5 Eric Slover, a helicopter pilot who was wounded in Venezuela four times but maintained control of the plane, saving the men on board.
“The success of the entire mission and the lives of his fellow warriors depend on Eric’s ability to endure extreme pain,” Trump said.
But when honoring injured service members, it sometimes gets into partisanship or other aspects.
“Their courage gave us the kindest, greatest, most noble republic that has ever walked the face of the Earth,” Trump said during a Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery last year.
Then it is Dig added In the face of his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, he described the country as “a republic that he reformed after four long and arduous years.”
One of the first controversies that Trump raised after entering politics was criticism of Senator John McCain’s military service.
“He’s a war hero because he was captured,” he said in 2015. “I love people who weren’t captured.”
McCain was tortured during more than five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, and rejected an offer to be released before other Americans because his father was a high-ranking Navy admiral.
Some former officials who served during Trump’s first term He claimed The president disparaged fallen service members as “suckers” and “losers” when they said he did not want to travel in 2018 to a cemetery for American war dead in France. Trump denied the claim, saying: “What animal would say such a thing?”
Trump’s former aides also claimed he did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees, saying: “It doesn’t look good to me.”
In 2017, he told the widow of a slain soldier that he “knew what he signed up for,” according to a Florida congresswoman who heard the call. The father of another slain soldier accused the president Back to the promise To send a check for $25,000. The White House said the money was sent after the controversy erupted.
In 2020, Trump downplayed the severity of traumatic brain injuries suffered by military service members when exposed to Iran. Missiles fired At an American base in Iraq in response to the American strike that killed the most powerful Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani.
He added: “I heard that they suffer from headaches and other things, but I can say that it is not very serious.” Trump said.
Trump, who received deferments to avoid the draft during the Vietnam War, has commented several times on his desire to receive military decorations.
“I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This would have been so much easier,” Trump said One veteran said who presented his medal to Trump during his 2016 campaign. The Purple Heart is awarded to service members who have been wounded or killed by enemy action.
At the Medal of Honor ceremony on Monday, Trump again joked about receiving a medal, calling it a “great honor.”
“I’ve tried several times to get one myself,” Trump said. “I keep getting locked out. They say, ‘You can’t do that, sir. Bad protocol.'”
He added: “Very bad, I would say the worst.” “But I’m just kidding.”