The Dover visit, which came roughly one week after Trump ordered strikes on Iran in coordination with Israel, drew renewed attention to a record spanning more than a decade that includes both formal honors for military heroism and episodes — some disputed, some documented — in which Trump questioned or minimized the costs of service in uniform.
President Donald Trump attended the dignified transfer of six American service members killed in the war in the Middle East at Dover Air Force Base on Saturday, standing silent as flag-draped transfer cases were received. Trump, wearing a blue suit, red tie, and a white USA hat, did not speak during the ceremony.
“It’s a very sad day,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned to Florida later Saturday afternoon, saying that he was “glad we paid our respects.”
The Dover visit came roughly one week after Trump ordered strikes on Iran in coordination with Israel. Before those strikes, Trump warned in a video message that American casualties were possible. “That’s the way it is,” he said.
The reception of the six transfer cases drew renewed attention to Trump’s record on military service and sacrifice — one that includes formal honors for individual heroism alongside a series of contested or documented statements that have generated controversy since his first presidential campaign, according to the Associated Press.
Honoring individual bravery
Trump frequently marks military heroism in formal settings.
Shortly before the Dover visit, Trump awarded the Medal of Honor to retired Command Sgt. Maj. Terry P. Richardson for Vietnam War actions credited with saving the lives of 85 other service members. “Today you entered the ranks of the bravest warriors ever to stride the face of the earth,” Trump told Richardson at the ceremony.
At his State of the Union address last month, Trump presented the Medal of Honor to Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Eric Slover, a helicopter pilot who was shot four times in Venezuela but maintained control of the aircraft, saving the men on board. “The success of the entire mission and the lives of his fellow warriors hinged on Eric’s ability to take searing pain,” Trump said.
Contested statements on sacrifice
Trump’s most prominent controversy involving military service came in 2015, when he commented on Sen. John McCain’s Vietnam War captivity: “He is a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
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.
Some former officials who served during Trump’s first term claimed he disparaged fallen service members as “suckers” and “losers” in 2018, when, they said, he did not want to travel to a French cemetery for American war dead. Trump denied the allegation. “What animal would say such a thing?” he said.
Former Trump aides also alleged that he did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees, saying “it doesn’t look good for me.”
In 2017, Trump told the widow of a slain soldier that he “knew what he signed up for,” according to a Florida congresswoman who heard the call. The father of another slain soldier accused Trump of not fulfilling a promise to send a $25,000 check; the White House said the money was sent after controversy erupted.
In 2020, Trump commented on traumatic brain injuries suffered by service members after Iran fired missiles at a U.S. base in Iraq in retaliation for the American strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. “I heard that they had headaches and a couple of other things, but I would say and I can report it is not very serious,” Trump said.
Draft record and remarks about medals
Trump received deferments to avoid the Vietnam War draft. He has on several occasions remarked about wanting military medals.
“I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier,” Trump told a veteran who presented his medal to Trump during the 2016 campaign. The Purple Heart is awarded to service members wounded or killed by enemy action.
At the recent Medal of Honor ceremony for Richardson, Trump joked about wanting a medal himself. “I’ve tried numerous times to get one by myself,” Trump said. “I keep getting shut down. They say: ‘You can’t do it, sir. Bad protocol.’” He added: “But I’m only kidding.”