Thread by @JillPiggott

Now we know Trump mocked a man's #disability because he feels "disgust for those who have suffered." As president, he told staff "not to include wounded #veterans" in an event because “Nobody wants to see that."

Trump's views of #vets: reporting from @TheAtlantic (thread)

.@FoxNews @AP & other media organizations have verified @TheAtlantic's reporting that Trump lied when he said he couldn't reach a French cemetery to honor America's war dead. In fact, "he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain."

“Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers," Trump told senior staff members," referring to America's WWI fallen. During the same 2018 trip, he referred to the "more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as 'suckers' for getting killed."

While in France to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of #WWI, Trump asked aides, "Who were the good guys in this war?” & said "he didn’t understand why the United States would intervene on the side of the Allies."

(Again, multiple news outlets have confirmed this reporting.)

Trump referred to former Pres George H. W. Bush as a 'loser' for being shot down by the Japanese as a #Navy pilot in World War II," 3 sources with direct knowledge told @TheAtlantic.

“What the fuck are we doing that for? Guy was a fucking #loser,” Trump told aides when he became "furious" at the sight of White House flags at half-mast for #McCain.

"We’re not going to support that loser’s funeral." @TheAtlantic

Sources with direct knowledge say Trump "seems to genuinely not understand why Americans treat former POWs with respect. Nor does he understand why pilots who are shot down in combat are honored by the military."

(#POW Lt Col Robert Stimm returns home after 5 yrs in captivity.)

"Trump finds the notion of military service difficult to understand, and the idea of volunteering to serve especially incomprehensible," multiple sources told @TheAtlantic, in reporting confirmed by @FoxNews & other media outlets.

Trump visited #Arlington on Memorial Day 2017 with Homeland Security Sec Gen #JohnKelly. They were set to visit the "14-acre area of the cemetery that is the burial ground for those killed in America’s most recent wars. Kelly’s son Robert is buried in Section 60."

Trump stood at the grave of #JohnKelly's 29-year-old son Robert, killed in Afghanistan, "turned directly to his father and said, 'I don’t get it. What was in it for them?'"

Gen Kelly "came to realize that Trump simply does not understand non-transactional life choices."

“'He can’t fathom the idea of doing something for someone other than himself. He just thinks that anyone who does anything when there’s no direct personal gain to be had is a sucker. There’s no money in serving the nation," Kelly's friend, a 4-star general, told @TheAtlantic.

A 4-star general who's friends with #JohnKelly told @TheAtlantic, “Trump can’t imagine anyone else’s pain. That’s why he would say this to the father of a fallen #marine on Memorial Day in the cemetery where he’s buried.”

And not just any cemetery: #Arlington.

"Many senior officers" are deeply worried by Trump's belief "the #military, like other depts of the federal government, is beholden only to him, and not the #Constitution." When Trump & #Barr used tear gas vs peaceful protesters & used the military as a prop, #Mattis spoke out.

#Mattis 6/3: “Never did I dream that troops ... would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens—much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with #military leadership standing alongside.”

#Mattis 6/3: "Instructions given by the military departments to our troops before the Normandy invasion reminded soldiers that “The #Nazi slogan for destroying us…was ‘Divide and Conquer.’ Our American answer is ‘In Union there is Strength." cnbc.com/2020/06/03/rea…

Trump's former Defense Sec #Mattis: The #Nazi strategy was "divide & conquer": "Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try."

#Mattis (6/3): "We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our #Constitution."

“That guy is smart. Why did he join the #military?" Trump asked aides after a briefing by the then Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Trump "believes that nothing is worth doing without the promise of monetary payback, & that talented people who don’t pursue riches are 'losers.'"

Trump's definition of #sucker "includes those who lose their lives in service to their country, as well as those who are taken prisoner, or are wounded in battle.

'He has a lot of fear,' one officer with firsthand knowledge of Trump’s views" told @TheAtlantic.

Fox's @JenGriffinFNC confirmed that Trump told WH staffers that a July 4th #military parade shouldn't include "wounded guys," saying "that's not a good look" & "Americans don't like that."

I'm the daughter of a #KoreanWar vet, the great-etc-granddaughter of Union & Revolutionary War soldiers. My father taught me that citizenship calls us to community service & the good of all. Trump doesn't believe that.

I'll #VoteBiden to safeguard my father's beloved country.🇺🇸

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