The cemetery visit cancellation in 2018 was documented in real time. The White House said Marine One couldn't fly due to weather. John Kelly, Trump's chief of staff and a Gold Star father whose son was killed in Afghanistan, was photographed at a different ceremony with his head bowed. The optics were terrible — the president of the United States skipping the graves of American war dead because it was raining, while other delegations visited. But the full story, as The Atlantic reported it two years later, was worse.
According to Goldberg's September 2020 report — based on four unnamed sources with direct knowledge — Trump had said, while looking at the graves at the Aisne-Marne cemetery from a distance: "Why should I go to that cemetery? It's filled with losers." During the same visit, he had referred to the 1,800 Marines buried at Belleau Wood as "suckers" for getting killed. He had asked why anyone would join the military — "What was in it for them?" These characterizations fit a consistent pattern: Trump had said of John McCain that he preferred people who "weren't captured." He had attacked the Gold Star Khan family. He had referred to soldiers with traumatic brain injuries as people who had "headaches."
Jennifer Griffin of Fox News — not The Atlantic, not a liberal outlet — confirmed parts of the story, reporting that two sources told her Trump had indeed called Americans buried in France "losers." Fox News national security correspondent, reporting facts that contradicted the president, on Fox News. Trump demanded Fox News fire Griffin. Fox News stood by her reporting. Subsequent confirmation came from additional sources including former National Security Advisor John Bolton, who said in his book that the characterization of Trump's attitude toward the military was accurate even if he hadn't personally heard that specific exchange.
This post distinguishes between documented facts, allegations, and analysis. Where motive, intent, corruption, or illegality remains disputed in the public record, the text attributes that judgment to court findings, official records, direct quotes, or the reporting linked below.
- Aisne-Marne cancellation — documented by pool reporters November 10, 2018; White House statement; photographs of Kelly at separate ceremony.
- The Atlantic — Jeffrey Goldberg, "Trump: Americans Who Died in War Are 'Losers' and 'Suckers,'" September 3, 2020; four sources with direct knowledge.
- Fox News confirmation — Jennifer Griffin reported two sources confirmed Trump called US war dead "losers"; Fox News stood by her report September 4, 2020.
- Bolton — "The Room Where It Happened" (2020): characterized Trump's attitude toward military consistent with reporting.