Donald Trump blasts military sources who claimed he 'called American WWI dead 'losers' and 'suckers' after scrapped trip to Aisne-Marne cemetery in France', as 'a total lie and disgrace'
President Donald Trump made disparaging remarks about members of the U.S. military who have been captured or killed, according to a new report.
Trump vehemently denied the claims, which were first reported in the Atlantic, that he referred to the American war dead at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France in 2018 as 'losers' and 'suckers.'
A senior Defense Department official with firsthand knowledge of events and a senior U.S. Marine Corps officer who was told about Trump's comments confirmed some of the remarks to the Associated Press, including the 2018 cemetery comments.
President Donald Trump talks with reporters at Andrews Air Force Base after attending a campaign rally in Latrobe, Pa., Thursday, Sept. 3, 2020, at Andrews Air Force Base
Trump vehemently denied the claims, which were first reported in the Atlantic , that he referred to the American war dead at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France in 2018 as 'losers' and 'suckers.'
The defense officials said Trump made the comments as he begged off visiting the cemetery outside Paris during a meeting following his presidential daily briefing on the morning of November 10, 2018.
In a series of tweets on Thursday, as well as remarks to reports at Andrews Air Force Base after attending a campaign rally, Trump denied the claims.
'It's a total lie. It's fake news. It's a disgrace, and frankly it's a disgrace to your profession.'
Trump said the reason he did not visit the cemetery in France was that bad weather made it logistically impossible, the same explanation the White House gave at the time.
'The helicopter could not fly. The reason it couldn't fly, because it was raining as hard as I'd ever seen. And on top of that it was very, very foggy,' Trump said on Thursday.
He said staffers tried to arrange a motorcade, but that it would have meant going through busy parts of Paris.
'The Secret Service told me, you can't do it. I said I have to do it. They said you can't do it,' Trump said.
Tombs are pictured at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial in Belleau, on November 10, 2018
According to the new report, staffers from the National Security Council and the Secret Service told Trump that rainy weather made helicopter travel to the cemetery risky, but they could drive there.
Trump responded by saying he didn't want to visit the cemetery because it was 'filled with losers,' the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss it publicly.
A White House spokesperson told the Atlantic in a statement: 'This report is false. President Trump holds the military in the highest regard.
'He's demonstrated his commitment to them at every turn: delivering on his promise to give our troops a much needed pay raise, increasing military spending, signing critical veterans reforms, and supporting military spouses. This has no basis in fact.'