President Donald Trump tried to deliver a solemn, respectful speech on Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery, but if he wasn’t going off script to joke about dead soldiers named “Donald,” he was butchering easy words that caused observers to wonder if he was just unprepared or if his loved ones might be neglecting their oversight duty to someone in cognitive decline.
Trump, along with his Vice President JD Vance and Defense Chief Pete Hegseth, observed Memorial Day with a somber ceremony at Arlington honoring the nation’s fallen heroes and laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, an annual tradition for the President of the United States and top members of his administration.
But when Trump took to the podium to deliver his speech, an online frenzy erupted. The president continually squinted and appeared to slur his words at times, badly mispronouncing the word “hallowed,” instead saying “howled.”
“Today, here at Arlington, a very special place that howled burial grounds, battlefields across the country,” Trump said, stumbling and peering closely as he tried to read his teleprompter.
Social media exploded with some wondering just how quickly his cognitive decline is progressing and others accusing him of being unprepared.
“It would be nice if he attempted to read his speeches even just one time before getting to the podium. Like just at least give it a run-through. Doesn’t even need to be verbal (should be though). It’s crazy that nobody ever talks about how insincere his words always are,” an X user stated.
Bluedevil had a different take on it: “Clearly, no one in his family loves him, or they would put him somewhere for people to take care of him.”
Neon Karl chimed in, “Jesus, he is in very bad condition.”
“He’s stroking out,” another X user agreed.
Further along in his speech, Trump joked and giggled that there were “not too many” dead soldiers named “Donald” as he listed some of the more common first names of military personnel buried at Arlington.
Trump dodged the Vietnam War draft five times during the 1960s. Four times he received a college deferment, then in 1968, he received a medical classification over so-called bone spurs, exempting him from service.
The 79-year-old Trump, the oldest person ever to assume the office of president when he was 78, also used the somber ceremony at Arlington to crow about his military might.
Trump told the solemn crowd no (American) lives were lost in his attack on Venezuela, and he called the American military members killed in his unapproved and deadly war on Iran “13 wonderful souls,” according to the Daily Beast, after joking earlier this month that he gets “a kick” out of critics questioning the potentially preventable loss of 13 soldiers in his war on Iran.
Over the weekend, the Trump administration appeared on the brink of a peace deal with Tehran before tensions flared again over the Islamic regime’s nuclear program and enriched uranium
The U.S. carried out new so-called “self-defense strikes” on southern Iran overnight Monday, May 25, including on Iranian boats in the contested Strait of Hormuz, killing four Iranians, CBS News reported. Central Command said it targeted boats trying to lay new mines in the waterway.
Iran called the attack a “grave violation” of the fragile ceasefire both countries agreed to on April 8.
On February 28, Trump launched a surprise and unapproved war on Tehran with no clear strategy, objectives, or endgame. First, Trump said it was over regime change and the country’s ballistic weapons systems.
Then, within a few weeks, the message began shifting with Trump, then insisting it was over Tehran’s nuclear program and that it was days away from having a nuclear weapon, something observers and even several people within the administration have disputed.
Iran quickly moved to shut down the critical Strait of Hormuz, which carries a third of the global energy supply daily, triggering a worldwide spike in the cost of energy.
The national average for fuel is now $4.49 a gallon, according to Triple A, with prices above $5.00 a gallon in some regions.
