President Donald Trump is facing fresh criticism following a visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center that the White House appeared eager to showcase as a show of support for America’s wounded service members.
But as details of the trip began to emerge, relatives of injured troops accused the president of skipping the very people many assumed he had come to see during his half-day scheduled visit, triggering a backlash that quickly spread across social media and veterans’ circles.
Trump went in for a six-month check-up, according to the White House, his third in the past 14 months, on Tuesday May 26, but he pointedly avoided visiting any of the 14 service members recovering from injuries they sustained in the president’s Operation Epic Fury, CBS News reported, citing an injured soldier’s family.
A White House spokesperson told CBS, “President Trump was honored to meet with our amazing service members and medical staff while at Walter Reed Medical Center,” but they declined to explain why he skipped out on meeting any who were injured in his attack on Tehran.
His visit came just a day after a Memorial Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery where he called the 13 troops killed so far in his unapproved war “wonderful souls.”
And a day after his Walter Reed visit during his monthly Cabinet meeting, Trump again mentioned the Iran casualties.
“We want to lose very few, we want very few to be injured. We’re very careful, but war is war. War is dangerous,” he insisted pointing out the obvious, according to The Daily Beast.
He called the 13 who died “great people” and said their deaths are “a terrible thing.”
Sgt. 1st Class Cory Hicks survived an Iranian drone attack on a poorly protected U.S. military outpost in Kuwait in the early days of Trump’s war that left six soldiers dead and 20 more injured. Hicks is one of six still hospitalized at Walter Reed.
He spoke with CBS Minnesota in April explaining his injuries included a lacerated kidney, a severed spleen, and a traumatic brain injury.
“I’ve come a long way, that’s for sure.” Hicks said.
“I spent 19 years in the military so far and I love serving my country, but this is a different battle. You’ve got to fight once you get injured,” he added.
Social media swiftly reacted to Trump bypassing soldiers injured in his war.
“As reported by CBS News’ Michael Kaplan, while at Walter Reed hospital, Trump had the chance to visit with 14 U.S. soldiers wounded in his war of choice against Iran. Unsurprisingly, the coward snubbed EVERY SINGLE SOLDIER. He didn’t have the guts to look them in the eyes,” an infuriated Threads poster declared.
“What a creep!” another disgusted Threads user proclaimed.
This one agreed, “He probably just wandered into a room of soldiers accidentally. He’s a decrepit old rag with a mush brain.”
Hicks told CBS it’s been hard in the days since the Iranian attack.
“I lost six of my battle buddies who were sitting pretty close to me, and that’s a struggle within itself,” the injured soldier admitted.
“The invisible wounds are hard to heal. A lot of them were further away from the blast than I was, so when you go through something like that, you go through a lot of guilt.”
Trump’s dislike of injured troops is well-known and well documented.
One of the worst instances included allegedly calling fallen World War I Marines “suckers” and “losers” after canceling a 2018 visit to a cemetery in France where more than 2,000 are buried. Trump has repeatedly denied the claims, but members of his first administration have confirmed he made the comments.
Trump also has likened brain injuries American personnel suffered in a 2020 Iranian attack on a U.S. base in Iraq to “headaches” and called the wounds “not very serious.”
