claimed that past presidents didn’t call families of fallen soldiers, while he had for “virtually everybody”?

Trump specifically named Obama as being among those that didn’t reach out to the families of fallen soldiers, saying, “If you look at President Obama, and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls, a lot of them didn’t make calls. I like to call when it’s appropriate, when I think I am able to do it.” When this was shown to be untrue, Trump backtracked by saying, “President Obama I think probably did sometimes, and maybe sometimes he didn’t.  I don’t know. That’s what I was told. Other presidents did not call. They’d write letters. And some presidents didn’t do anything.”

In the past, Trump had also attacked one Gold Star family for speaking at the DNC, brought a pregnant war widow to tears, and said he didn’t consider McCain a war hero because of his capture, despite having avoided the draft 5 times himself. However, in another instance, he sent a $25,000 personal check to offer his condolences to a grieving Gold Star family.

USA Today – Trump makes false claim that former presidents didn’t call families of slain troops
Business Insider – Trump said he called the families of ‘virtually everybody’ who died in service — but internal White House-Pentagon emails tell a different story

brought a war widow to tears, then called her account wrong because he had “one of the greatest memories of all time”?

Army Sergeant La David Johnson was killed during an ambush in Niger by elements of ISIS. The event was the largest loss of American lives in Africa during combat since the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993.

Image: Sgt. La David Johnson
Sgt. La David Johnson / Associated Press

La David’s pregnant widow said that Trump forgot her husband’s name during a phone call he’d made to offer condolences. Trump also remarked about her husband that, “He knew what he signed up for, but it hurts anyways.”

When the widow’s account of the phone call was reported, Trump said she was wrong because he has “one of the greatest memories of all time.”

He also tweeted that he had said the name “without hesitation.”

A few days later, Trump defended himself by saying that past Presidents didn’t even call the families of fallen soldiers.

Trump also attacked a Gold Star family for speaking at the DNC and disparaged US Senator John McCain’s service in Vietnam because he liked people “who weren’t captured.” In another instance, Trump sent a $25,000 personal check to a grieving family, though it came after news reports on its delay months after the promise.

The New York Times – Soldier’s Widow Says Trump Struggled to Remember Sgt. La David Johnson’s Name
Business Insider – TRUMP: I remember call to Gold Star widow better than she does because I have ‘one of the great memories of all-time’
The Washington Post – President Trump has one of the greatest memories of all time
Wikipedia – Tongo Tongo ambush

boasted about himself in front of the CIA’s Memorial Wall?

In front of the Memorial Wall, Trump repeated false claims about having the biggest inaugural turnout, which had just taken place the day prior. He also claimed to have the most covers on Time Magazine, which is untrue even when counting the fake ones Trump hung at his properties.

Trump stands before the CIA Memorial Wall the day after his inauguration. The White House

Trumps remarks, made at the intelligence community’s equivalent of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, were derided as extremely inappropriate.

The Hill – Why Trump’s CIA speech was simply inappropriate
The Washington Post -Trump called it ‘a very special’ wall. For the CIA it is sacrosanct.
The Atlantic – How Not to Smooth Things Over with the CIA

signed off on a high-risk raid in Yemen that led to several deaths?

The raid was one of the first high-profile military actions of the administration. Trump was reportedly told that the proposal had been considered too aggressive by Obama before he signed off on it. It led to the death of a Navy SEAL, 23 civilians including an 8 year old girl, and the crash of a $90 million aircraft.

People walk on the rubble of a house destroyed by an airstrike in Sana’a in Yemen
A house destroyed by an airstrike in Sana’a in Yemen. Mohamed Al-Sayaghi / Reuters

This was the first direct American intervention in Yemen, which had been in the middle of a civil war.

US Senator John McCain referred to it as botched, and refused to retract the statement despite a request to do so by the White House.

NPR – FACT CHECK: Trump’s Yemen Raid — ‘Winning Mission’ Or ‘Failure’? It’s Not So Simple
Politico – McCain rebuffs White House’s call for apology over Yemen raid
Wikipedia – Raid on Yakla

took credit for $700 million in cuts to the F-35 program’s price that was agreed upon before he was President?

Trump had previously tweeted about the F-35 program and its exorbitant costs.

During a visit to MacDill AFB in 2017, Trump made a variety of claims. Among them, like how “our Navy is at a point almost as low as World War One – that’s a long time ago, that’s a long time ago,” Trump also claimed “I saved over $700 million when I got involved in the negotiation on the F-35.”

Politico – How Trump got credit for slashing price of fighter jet when he didn’t
Politifact – Trump overstates credit for $700 million in savings for F-35s
Impact 2020 – Trump’s boasts aside, here’s the real reason those F-35s wound up costing less

attacked a Gold Star family?

Gold Star families are those that lost an immediately family member in the line of military duty. When one such family spoke at the Democratic National Convention, Trump suggested that the fallen soldier’s mother was not allowed to speak freely by her husband because they are Muslim.

Trump also suggested that Clinton’s campaign was supplying the family with talking points, saying,” “Who wrote that? Did Hillary’s scriptwriters write it?”

Khizr and Ghazala Khan / Wikipedia

In response, 17 Gold Star families signed an open letter to Trump, which explained, “When you question a mother’s pain, by implying that her religion, not her grief, kept her from addressing an arena of people, you are attacking us. When you say your job building buildings is akin to our sacrifice, you are attacking our sacrifice.”

Trump explained in his defense that, “I think I’ve made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard.”

Trump has had a checkered past on dealing with service members and their families. Trump later also brought a pregnant Gold Star widow to tears when he forgot the name of her husband. In another instance, Trump sent a $25,000 personal check to a grieving family, though it was after news reports noted its delay from when it was originally promised. He also infamously said John McCain was not a war hero because he was captured, and referred to dodging STDs as his own “personal Vietnam,” while having dodged the draft five times.

USO – What is a Gold Star Family?
The Washington Post – Trump stirs outrage after he lashes out at the Muslim parents of a dead U.S. soldier
The New York Times – Donald Trump Criticizes Muslim Family of Slain U.S. Soldier, Drawing Ire
ABC News – Donald Trump to Father of Fallen Soldier: ‘I’ve Made a Lot of Sacrifices’
Wikipedia – Khizr and Ghazala Khan

said of Senator John McCain, “He’s not a war hero…I like people who weren’t captured”?

John McCain served as a pilot in the Vietnam War and was shot down, captured, and tortured. He broke both arms and a knee when ejecting from his plane.

McCain was held at the infamous Hanoi Hilton prisoner camp for five and a half years. He only received life-saving treatment for his injuries when his captors discovered that he was the son of an admiral. They offered McCain early release, which he turned down knowing it would be used as propaganda. He suffered permanent injuries, including the inability to raise his arms above his head.

How John McCain's Years as a Vietnam POW Shaped His Life | Time
John McCain held captive in Vietnam. AFP / Getty

McCain died in 2018, having served as a US Senator for Arizona for three decades.

During Trump’s campaign, he rebuffed the assertion that McCain was a war hero:

He hit me, he’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured, okay? I hate to tell you.

Trump avoided the military draft for Vietnam five times and called dodging STDs his “personal Vietnam.”

Politico – Trump attacks McCain: ‘I like people who weren’t captured’
Time – Inside John McCain’s Journey From Annapolis to the Hanoi Hilton: How He Became a Prisoner of War
Wikipedia – John McCain (Prisoner of War)

called avoiding STDs his own “personal Vietnam”?

During a 1997 interview with Howard Stern, Trump referred to women’s vaginas as “potential landmines.”

He explained, “You know, if you’re young, and in this era, and if you have any guilt about not having gone to Vietnam, we have our own Vietnam — it’s called the dating game…Dating is like being in Vietnam. You’re the equivalent of a soldier going over to Vietnam.”

Trump received 5 draft deferments during Vietnam War, and said that John McCain was not a war hero because he was captured during the war.

CNN- Trump, comparing sex to Vietnam, said in 1998 he should receive the Congressional Medal of Honor
People – Trump Boasted of Avoiding STDs While Dating: Vaginas Are ‘Landmines … It Is My Personal Vietnam’

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