\n<\/p>\n
It\u2019s delicate for any president to watch flag-draped transfer cases return home from overseas, a solemn tradition that honors the dead and shines a spotlight on the human costs of conflict.<\/p>\n
Donald Trump\u2019s visit Saturday to Dover Air Force Base, honoring the six American service members killed in the war in the Middle East, could be an especially fraught moment for a president whose White House has done little to build public support for the conflict. He also has a record of controversy<\/a> when it comes to talking about military service and sacrifice<\/p>\n Trump can be reverential, such as when he recently awarded the Medal of Honor to troops for bravery during previous conflicts. <\/p>\n But he can also be terse or even dismissive. After launching attacks on Iran in coordination with Israel a week ago, Trump warned that there could be American casualties. When it comes to war, he said in a video message, \u201cthat’s the way it is.\u201d<\/p>\n The president frequently emphasizes the strength of U.S. armed services and stories of individual heroism. <\/p>\n \u201cToday you entered the ranks of the bravest warriors ever to stride the face of the earth,\u201d Trump told retired Command Sgt. 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.<\/p>\n During his State of the Union address last month, Trump presented the same medal to Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Eric Slover, a helicopter pilot who in Venezuela was shot four times but maintained control of the aircraft, saving the men on board. <\/p>\n \u201cThe success of the entire mission and the lives of his fellow warriors hinged on Eric\u2019s ability to take searing pain,” Trump said. <\/p>\n But when honoring injured service members, he sometimes interjects partisanship or other asides. <\/p>\n \u201cTheir valor gave us the freest, greatest and most noble republic ever to exist on the face of the earth,” Trump said during a Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery last year.<\/p>\n Then he added a dig<\/a> at his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, describing the country as “a republic that I am fixing after a long and hard four years.\u201d<\/p>\n One of Trump’s first controversies after entering politics involved criticism of Sen. John McCain’s military service. <\/p>\n \u201cHe is a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren\u2019t captured,\u201d he said in 2015. <\/p>\n McCain was tortured during more than five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, refusing an offer to be released ahead of other Americans because his father was a high-ranking Navy admiral. <\/p>\n Some former officials who served during Trump’s first term have claimed<\/a> the president disparaged fallen service members as \u201csuckers\u201d and \u201closers\u201d when, they said, he did not want to travel in 2018 to a cemetery for American war dead in France. Trump denied the allegation, saying, \u201cWhat animal would say such a thing?\u201d<\/p>\n Former Trump aides also alleged that he did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees, saying, “it doesn\u2019t look good for me.”<\/p>\n In 2017, he told the widow of a slain soldier that he \u201cknew what he signed up for,\u201d according to a Florida congresswoman who heard the call. The father of another slain soldier accused the president of going back on a promise<\/a> to send a check for $25,000. The White House said the money was sent after controversy erupted.<\/p>\n And in 2020, Trump downplayed the severity of traumatic brain injuries service members suffered when Iran fired missiles<\/a> at a U.S. base in Iraq in retaliation for a U.S. strike that killed Iran\u2019s most powerful general, Qassem Soleimani.<\/p>\n \u201cI heard that they had headaches and a couple of other things, but I would say and I can report it is not very serious,\u201d Trump said<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trump, who received deferments to avoid the draft during the Vietnam War, has remarked several times about wanting to receive military medals. <\/p>\n \u201cI always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier,\u201d Trump told a veteran<\/a> who presented his medal to Trump during his 2016 campaign. The Purple Heart is awarded to service members wounded or killed from enemy action. <\/p>\n And at his Medal of Honor ceremony Monday, Trump again joked getting a medal for himself, calling it \u201ca great honor.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve tried numerous times to get one by myself,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI keep getting shut down. They say: \u2018You can\u2019t do it, sir. Bad protocol.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cVery bad, I would say the worst,\u201d he added. \u201cBut I\u2019m only kidding.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n