Thread by @poergS

A lengthy history of Trump disrespecting our soldiers and their families. While using them as props when convenient, and at the cost of our tax dollars. 1/

- Trump knew since Mar 2020 that Russia paid bounties to kill American troops, yet he has done nothing.

- In May 2020, the White House ended National Guard deployments one day before they could claim benefits

2/

- The Trump admin seized 5 million masks intended for VA hospitals. Kushner distributes these masks to private entities for a fee, who then sells the masks to the government

3/

- Trump fired the captain of the *USS Theodore Roosevelt* after he warned superiors that COVID19 was spreading among his crew. The virus subsequently spread amongst the crew.

4/

- After Iran's retaliatory strike, 109 US troops suffered brain injuries. Trump dismissed these as "headaches"

- On July 20, 2017, in room 2E924 of the Pentagon, Trump told a room full of Generals, "You’re a bunch of dopes and babies"

5/

- Pardoned multiple war criminals, which stomped on long standing military values, discipline, and command. Trump has no military experience (May&Nov, 2019)

6/

- Trump mocked Lt. Col. Vindman for his rank and uniform. He threatened said purple heart officer, resulting in the Army providing him protection

- Trump’s Chief of Staff worked—in secret—to deny comprehensive health coverage to Vietnam Vets who suffered from Agent Orange.

7/

- There is a facility in Tijuana for US veterans that Trump deported. Wounded war vet, Sen Duckworth (D) marked Veterans Day 2019 by visiting this facility

8/

- Russia took control of the main U.S. military facility in Syria abandoned on Trump’s orders. Russia now owns the airstrip we built

9/

- On Oct 7, 2019, Trump abruptly withdrew support from America's allies in Syria after a phone call with Turkey's president (Erdogan). Turkey subsequently bombed US Special Forces.

10/

- Trump sent thousands of American troops to defend the oil assets of the country that perpetrated 9/11

10/

- In Sept 2019, he made an Air Force cargo crew, flying from the U.S. to Kuwait stop in Scotland (where there's no U.S. base) to refuel at a commercial airport (where it costs more), so they could stay overnight at a Trump property (which isn't close to the airport).
/11

- In Sept, 2019, Pentagon pulled funds for military schools, military housing funds, and daycare to pay for Trump's border wall.

/12

- In Aug, 2019, emails revealed that three of Trump's Mar-a-Lago pals, who are now running Veterans Affairs, are rampant with meddling. "They had no experience in veterans affairs (none of them even served in the military)
/13

- Veterans graves will be "dug up" for the border wall, after Trump instructed aides to seize private property. Trump told officials he would pardon them if they break the law by illegally seizing property

14/

- Children of deployed US troops are no longer guaranteed citizenship. This includes US troops posted abroad for years at a time (August 28, 2019)

- On Aug 2, 2019, Trump requisitioned military retirement funds towards border wall

/15

- On July 31, 2019, Trump ordered the Navy rescind medals to prosecutors who were prosecuted war criminals

- Trump denied a U.S. Marine of 6 years entry into the United States for his citizenship interview (Reported July 17, 2019)

/16

- Trump made the U.S. Navy Blue Angels violate ethics rules by having them fly at his July 4th political campaign event (July 4, 2019)

- Trump demanded US military chiefs stand next to him at 4th of July parade (reported July 2, 2019)

/17

- In June, 2019, Trump sent troops to the border to paint the fence for a better "aesthetic appearance"

- Trump used his D-Day interview at a cemetery commemorating fallen US soldiers to attack a Vietnam veteran (June 6, 2019)

/18

- Trump started his D-Day commemoration speech by attacking a private citizen (Bette Midler, of all people) (reported on June 4th, 2019)

- Trump made his 2nd wife, Marla Maples, sign a prenup that would have cut off all child support if Tiffany joined the military

/19

- On May 27, 2019, Trump turned away US military from his Memorial Day speech because they were from the destroyer USS John S. McCain

- Trump ordered the USS John McCain out of sight during his visit to Japan (May 15, 2019). The ship's name was subsequently covered.

/20

- Trump purged 200,000 vets' healthcare applications (due to known administrative errors within VA’s enrollment system) (reported on May 13, 2019)

- Trump deported a spouse of fallen Army soldier killed in Afghanistan, leaving their daughter parentless (April 16, 2019)

/21

- On March 20, 2019, Trump complained that a deceased war hero didn't thank him for his funeral

/21

- Between 12/22/2018, and 1/25/2019, Trump refused to sign his party's funding bill, which shut down the government, forcing the Coast Guard to go without pay, which made service members rely on food pantries. However, his appointees got a $10,000 pay raise

23/

- He banned service members from serving based on gender identity (1/22/2019)

- He denied female troops access to birth control to limit sexual activity (on-going. Published Jan 18, 2019)

- He tried to deport a marine vet who is a U.S.-born citizen (Jan 16, 2019)

24/

- When a man was caught swindling veterans pensions for high-interest “cash advances," Trump's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fined him $1 (Jan 26, 2019)

- He called a retired general a 'dog' with a 'big, dumb mouth' (Jan 1, 2019)

25/

- He increased privatization of the VA, leading to longer waits and higher taxpayer cost (2018)

- He finally visited troops 2 years after taking office, but only after 154 vacation days at his properties (Dec 26, 2018)

26/

- He revealed a covert Seal Team 5 deployment, including names and faces, on Twitter during his visit to Iraq (Dec 26, 2018)

27/

- Trump lied to deployed troops that he gave them a 10% raise (12/26/2018). He tried giving the military a raise that was lower than the standard living adjustment.

Congress told him that idea wasn't going to work. Then after giving them the raise that Congress made him, he lied about it pretending that it was larger than Obama's. It wasn't.

28/

- He fired service members living with HIV just before the 2018 holidays

- He tried to slash disability and unemployment benefits for Veterans to $0, and eliminate the unemployability extrascheduler rating (Dec 17, 2018)

29/

- He called troops on Thanksgiving and told them he's most thankful for himself (Thanksgiving, 2018)

- He urged Florida to not count deployed military votes (Nov 12, 2018)

- He canceled an Arlington Cemetery visit on Veterans Day due to light rain (Nov 12, 2018)

30/

- While in Europe commemorating the end of WWI, he didn't attend the ceremony at a US cemetery due to the rain -- other world leaders went anyway (Nov 10, 2018)

31/

- He used troops as a political prop by sending them on a phantom mission to the border and made them miss Thanksgiving with their families (Oct-Dec, 2018)

32/

- Trump changed the GI Bill through his Forever GI Act, causing the VA to miss veteran benefits, including housing allowances. This caused many vets to run out of food and rent.

- Trump doubled the rejection rate for veterans requesting family deportation protections

33/

- Trump deported active-duty spouses (11,800 military families face this problem as of April 2018)

- He forgot a fallen soldier's name (below) during a call to his pregnant widow, then attacked her the next day (Oct 23-24, 2017)

34/

- He sent commandos into an ambush due to a lack of intel, and sends contractors to pick them up, resulting in a commando being left behind, tortured, and executed. (Trump approved the mission because Bannon told him Obama didn't have the guts to do it) (Oct 4, 2017)

35/

- He blocked a veteran group on Twitter (June 2017)

- He ordered the discharge of active-duty immigrant troops with good records (2017-present)

- He deported veterans (2017-present)

- He said he knows more about ISIS than American generals (Oct 2016)

36/

- Trump accepted a Purple Heart from a fan at one of his rallies and said: “I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier.” (Aug 2, 2016)

- Trump attacks Gold Star families: Myeshia Johnson (gold star widow), Khan family (gold star parents) etc.

37/

- Trump sent funds raised from a Jan 2016 veterans benefit to the Donald J Trump Foundation instead of veterans charities (the foundation has since been ordered shut because of fraud) (Jan, 2016)

/38

- Trump said he has "more training militarily than a lot of the guys that go into the military" because he went to a military-style academy (2015 biography)

- Trump said he doesn't consider POWs heroes because they were caught. He said he prefers people who were not caught
/39

- Trump said having unprotected sex was his own personal Vietnam (1998)

- For a decade, Trump sought to kick veterans off of Fifth Avenue because he found them unsightly nuisances outside of Trump Tower. 1991

40/

- No Trump in America has *ever* served in the military; this spans 5 generations, and every branch of the family tree. In fact, the reason his grandfather immigrated to America was to avoid military service

41/

FIN!
@TheRickWilson @ProjectLincoln
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@SenDuckworth