Daily US Times: President Donald Trump has denied accusations that he made disparaging remarks about US soldiers who were captured or killed in battle.
Mr Trump cancelled a visit to a US cemetery outside Paris in 2018 because he said it was “filled with losers”, according to The Atlantic magazine.
In a story by AP news agency, the allegations have since been corroborated by two senior military officials, but in a tweet, Mr Trump denounced the claims as “made up fake news”.
Mr Trump cancelled a visit to the Aise-Marne American Cemetery during a visit to France in 2018. The White House blamed poor weather for that at that time.
However four sources told The Atlantic he rejected the idea of visiting because he did not believe it important to honour America’s war dead and the rain would dishevel his hair.
The president also allegedly referred to 1,800 US soldiers who died at Belleau Wood as “suckers” during the same trip. The battle helped to prevent a German advance on Paris during World War One and is venerated by the US Marine Corps.
Three sources told The Atlantic that, on at least two occasions, President Trump also called former President George HW Bush a “loser” for being shot down by the Japanese during World War Two. Mr Busdh was serving as a Navy pilot.
An unnamed, retired military general told The Atlantic: “He can’t fathom the idea of doing something for someone other than himself.”
“He just thinks that anyone who does anything when there’s no direct personal gain to be had is a sucker. There’s no money in serving the nation.”
Mr Trump called The Atlantic’s report “unthinkable” while speaking with reporters.
The US President said: “To think that I would make statements negative to our military and our fallen heroes when nobody’s done what I’ve done with the budgets, with the military budgets, with getting pay raises for our military.”
“It is a disgraceful situation by a magazine that’s a terrible magazine,” he added.
The President has been criticised in the past for his comments on military veterans. He questioned the heroism of Republican Senator John McCain in 2015. Mr McCain was captured during the Vietnam War.
He said during an interview: “I like people who weren’t captured.”
Mr Trump received five deferments from a military draft during the Vietnam War – one for bone spurs and four for academic reasons.
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