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meOnline items in the Pentagon budget are not one of the things that Donald Trump generally deals with. However, on Friday afternoon, as Americans prepared for the long Labor Day weekend, the president announced on Twitter: The United States would not cut the budget for the soldiers’ newspaper “Stars and Stripes.” The newspaper will continue to be a wonderful source of information for our “great army”.
Majid sattar
Political Correspondent for North America based in Washington.
In fact, the Defense Ministry had decided that the proud newspaper, founded during the civil war, would be shut down as part of the general austerity measures. Congressional protests didn’t help either. But now the president appeared as the savior of the newspaper, which the neglected man apparently never had in his hand, after all he called it a “magazine” in the tweet. Trump’s decision came just hours after the publication of an article in The Atlantic magazine that contained extremely disparaging comments from the Commander-in-Chief about the soldiers.
Only fools can die
The president immediately denied the content of the report: he had never said such a thing. There is no one who respects soldiers more than him. But apparently, he believed he needed to emphasize this respect again. Now, “Stars and Stripes” will continue to print for the time being. The story, a few weeks before the presidential elections, is extremely unpleasant for Trump: first, because other media confirmed the veracity of the article in which the magazine cites four anonymous sources. And second, because the rumored quotes sound exactly like Trump expresses himself over and over again. You can literally hear him say the words. For example, those who are said to have said during a visit to France in 2018 to commemorate the end of World War I: “Why should I go to the cemetery? There are only losers there ”. Then he called the more than 800 marines “idiots” because they would have been killed.
Trump had canceled a visit to the US Aisne-Marne military cemetery on short notice. Officially, it was said at the time: Due to the rain, the president’s helicopter was unable to fly. The article now reports that Trump was concerned about his hairstyle, which contains a lot of hairspray and does not tolerate wind and rain. In any case, he did not understand why he should honor the soldiers who fell in battle in the Forest of Belleau.
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Americans, who always thank them for their service when they meet soldiers (“Thank you for your service”), well remember how Trump once denigrated John McCain. The Republican senator, who died in 2018, was once a prisoner of war in Vietnam. In 2015, when he ran for president, Trump said McCain “was not a war hero” to him. He likes people who have not been captured.
Trump himself was postponed at the time due to a bone spur. However, his former attorney Michael Cohen, who had to explain the reasons for the removal in the 2016 election campaign, later claimed that Trump had told him, “Do you think I’m stupid?” Of course, he made sure he didn’t have to go to Vietnam.
The “Atlantic” story contains other derogatory quotes. He is said to have called McCain a “fucking loser” and asked his former Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, whose son died in Afghanistan in 2010, Memorial Day 2017 in the tomb in Arlington: “I don’t get it. What could you get out of it? Kelly, who later became the White House Chief of Staff and broke up with Trump in late 2018, is publicly silent on the story. But former employees say Kelly understood at the time that it was all business for Trump. He does not understand the concept of selfless service to the nation.
Trump attacked the author of the report with his usual tirades: “Fake news,” and so on. The long weekend became even more unpleasant for the president when he realized that allies were turning away from him: “Fox News” broadcaster, which had initially questioned the report, then let its security correspondent read: Two former high-ranking officials White House employees who traveled to Paris with Trump in 2018 had confirmed the essence of the article, he reported. Trump was now furious and asked the broadcaster to fire the journalist. That, in turn, led some Republicans to defend the reporter.
The issue is so devastating for Trump because his popularity has suffered so much with soldiers who were once part of his electorate. According to a “Military Times” poll, Trump currently has the support of only 37 percent of active duty soldiers; 41 percent favor Democrat Joe Biden. Four years ago, Trump led this group over Hillary Clinton by 20 percentage points. By the way, Biden called Trump’s words “absolutely horrible.” Always try not to lose your composure. He had never gotten so close to the point in this election campaign.
