Trump criticized posts he called dead in US war “ losers ”

US President Donald Trump has faced backlash over reports that he ridiculed American soldiers killed in action as “losers” and “suckers.”

The alleged comments were first reported by Atlantic magazine.and some details have been confirmed by the Associated Press and Fox News.

But the president and his allies denied that he made the announcement.

Veteran groups were among those who attacked the president over messages.

Progressive group VoteVets posted videos of families whose children were killed in action. “You don’t know what it means to donate,” says one of them.

Paul Rickhoff of America’s Veterans in Iraq and Afghanistan, tweeted: “Who is really surprised by this?”

Analysts believe these comments could be detrimental, as the president will need the support of military voters when he applies for re-election.

What did Trump reportedly say?

Trump canceled a visit to an American cemetery outside of Paris in 2018 because, he said, it was “filled with losers,” The Atlantic reports.

Four sources told the magazine that he rejected the idea of ​​the visit because the rain ruffled his hair and he did not think it important to honor the victims of America’s war.

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On the same trip, the president allegedly called the 1,800 American soldiers killed at Belleau Wood “suckers.” The battle helped prevent a German advance on Paris during World War I and is revered by the United States Marine Corps.

In 2018 The White House said the visit was canceled because the president’s helicopter was stopped due to bad weather. This report was corroborated in a recent book by former Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton, who has been a strong critic of Trump.

The Atlantic’s report was based on anonymous sources, but The Associated Press said it independently confirmed many of the comments.… A Fox News reporter said she confirmed some of the comments.

What was the reaction?

Aside from the veterans’ comments, President Trump’s rival in the November presidential election, Joe Biden, responded by saying that his rival was “unsuitable” for leadership.

“If the article is correct – and, apparently, it is true, judging by his other words – it is absolutely terrible. It’s a shame”.

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Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, a veteran who lost both legs while serving in Iraq, said President Trump “loved to use the American military for his own ego.”

Khizr Khan, father of a US soldier killed in Iraq who criticized Trump during the 2016 Democratic convention, joined Miss Duckworth on the phone.

He said: “When Donald Trump calls anyone who gives his life to serve others a failure, we understand Trump’s soul.”

How is the White House dealing with this story?

President Trump has sharply opposed these reports, calling them “fake news.”

“Just think that I will make negative statements about our military and our fallen heroes, when no one has done what I did with the budgets, with the military budgets, with the increase in the wages of our military,” he said. “It’s a shameful situation for a magazine, it’s a terrible magazine.”

Speaking to reporters on Friday, he suggested that the source of the story was his former White House chief of staff, John Kelly. Mr Trump said the former US Marine general “could not handle the pressure of this job.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News on Friday morning that he had been with the president for most of his trip to France and had never heard him use the words in the article.

Politico quotes Defense Secretary Mark Esper as saying that Trump “has the highest respect and admiration for the military, veterans and families of our country,” although the head of the Pentagon did not directly deny the story.

Another former White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, and former press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders were among those in Trump’s orbit who dismissed the story as false.

Where are Trump and the US military?

The US president has often expressed strong support among the military, and last year the Pew Research Center found that veterans generally supported him as commander in chief. with 57% in favor. The study found that three-fifths of the veterans were identified as Republicans.

But there have been previous squabbles and disagreements.

He sparked outrage by saying that the late Senator John McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam, was not a “war hero,” saying, “I like people who were not captured.”

President Trump has never served in military uniform. During the Vietnam War, he received five draft deferrals – four for academic reasons and one for bone spurs, calcium deposits in the heels.