Donald Trump’s disrespect for the military has sunk to new depths.
Who would have thought it was possible?
On Thursday, a report in The Atlantic released shocking details -- although, is it really all that shocking anymore? -- about the president’s statements and conduct. He allegedly referred to World War I soldiers who died on the battlefields of France, as well as other American personnel, as “losers” and “suckers.”
He also, according to the article, told Gen. John Kelly that he, “didn’t get it,” as the two men stood near the grave of Kelly’s dead son at Arlington National Cemetery.
Of course Trump wouldn’t get it. How could he? How could a man who fought so hard to avoid military service understand the men and women who serve our country with honor? How could a man with such blatantly obvious fascist tendencies understand the men who fought to evict autocrats and fascists from Europe. How could a man who thinks only of himself understand the men and women who put their lives on the line for others?
He can’t.
Donald Trump told us exactly what he thought of the military, and those who serve in it, during the early days of his presidential campaign. He told us that he didn’t think Sen. John McCain -- who was held captive as a prisoner of war under brutal conditions in Vietnam for 5½ years -- was a hero because “I like people who weren’t captured.”
McCain isn’t considered a hero because he got caught. He’s a hero because he refused to use his family connections to get out of his predicament ahead of others who were also being held captive. Of course, how could Donald Trump understand the mentality of a man who doesn’t play an angle and work the system?
He can’t.
This summer, we learned our president received intelligence in his daily briefings that indicated Russia was putting bounties on U.S. military personnel serving in Afghanistan. Not only has Trump continued to do nothing, he remains subservient to Vladimir Putin and pushes for Russia’s international interests.
Trump’s behavior, and the way he views the men and women who serve in our military, is callous and depraved. But why should we expect him to treat them any different than the rest of us? Donald Trump sees everybody and everything through the same prism. We are all here to serve him and his interests, whatever those might be.
Donald Trump has proven himself to be the most anti-American president in history. Had Trump been running the show during World War II, it is almost certain that he would have had no issues with Nazi Germany running roughshod over Europe. He probably would have made one of his so-called brilliantly negotiated business arrangements with them to manufacture and sell them weapons.
America First, right?
Donald Trump denies that he ever made these statements, but do any of us believe him? Putting aside the president’s penchant for pathological prevarications, Trump's repulsive comments in France were confirmed by four people with first-hand knowledge of them. Beside that, there is the obvious. These thoughts and statements are in line with Trump’s nature.
Because in Donald Trump’s world, there is one person, and only one person, at the center of it.
Himself.