Donald Trump on Monday seemed to imply that military veterans battling post-traumatic stress disorder are not strong because they “can’t handle” the “horror stories” they’ve seen in combat.
Trump delivered a brief address to veterans in Herndon, Virginia, before participating in a Q-and-A session, during which the Republican presidential nominee was asked whether he would “support and fund a more holistic approach to solve the problems and issues of veteran suicide, PTSD, [traumatic brain injuries] and other” mental and behavioral health issues facing veterans, as well as if he would “take steps to restore the historic role of our chaplains and the importance of spiritual fitness and spiritual resiliency programs.”
Trump responded in the affirmative, adding that the U.S. needs that “so badly.”
“When you talk about the mental health problems, when people come back from war and combat — and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over and you’re strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can’t handle it,” Trump said. “And they see horror stories. They see events that you couldn’t see in a movie. Nobody would believe it.”
The real estate mogul called for more assistance with veterans’ mental health, noting that “it’s one of the things that I think is least addressed” but also “one of the things that I hear the most about when I go around and talk to the veterans.”
“So we’re gonna have a very, very robust — very, very robust — level of performance having to do with mental health. We are losing so many great people that can be taken care of if they had proper care,” Trump continued. “You know, when you hear the 22 suicides a day — big part of your question — but when you hear the 22 suicides a day, that should never be. That should never be. So we’re gonna be addressing that very strongly, and the whole mental health issue is going to be a very important issue when I take over, and the VA is going to be fixed in so many ways, but that’s gonna be one of the ways we’re gonna help, and that’s in many respects going to be the No. 1 thing we have to do because I think it’s really been left behind.”
In a statement released Monday afternoon by Trump’s campaign, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn blamed the media for what he framed as a blatant attempt to “deceive voters and veterans.”
“The media continues to operate as the propaganda arm of Hillary Clinton as they took Mr. Trump’s words out of context in order to deceive voters and veterans—an appalling act that shows they are willing to go to any length to carry water for their candidate of choice,” Flynn said. “Mr. Trump was highlighting the challenges veterans face when returning home after serving their country. He has always respected the service and sacrifice of our military men and women—proposing reforms to Veteran Affairs to adequately address the various issues veterans face when they return home.”
Trump’s comments were part of a call for more focus and resources on veteran mental health. It’s a worthy call, of course, but his statement betrayed a fundamental misunderstanding about mental health.
Veterans are not weak for having a mental health disorder. The science shows that PTSD can happen to anyone. It is not a sign of weakness. A number of factors can increase the chance that someone will develop PTSD, many of which are not under that person’s control.
It is insulting that Trump is speaking from ignorance on a very serious subject.
And Trump is no stranger to insulting our veterans.
In July, 2015, Trump slammed Senator John McCain for not being a war hero, “because he was captured.”
After four months of bragging he gave $1 million dollars to veteran charities that Trump pledged during his Rally For Vets event, journalist uncovered that Trump was lying the entire time. Only then did Trump donate his money to veterans.
Although the rate of veterans suicide was previously estimated to be 22 a day, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs updated that number to 20 in July.
During last night’s Commander-in-Chief forum, Donald Trump made it sound as though the intelligence officials who have been briefing him haven’t hid their disdain for President Obama.
Asked by NBC’s Matt Lauer whether anything he learned during his first two briefings shocked him, Trump said “Yes, there was one thing that shocked me.”
“What I did learn is that our leadership — Barack Obama — did not follow what our experts… said to do,” Trump said. “I was very, very surprised in almost every instance. And I could tell — I am pretty good with the body language — I could tell they were not happy our leaders did not follow what they were recommending.”
Three people who have worked in the intelligence community told ThinkProgress Trump’s comments are both unusual and implausible.
Paul Pillar, a former high-ranking CIA analyst who worked for 28 years in the intelligence community, said he “can’t remember any time where a candidate has said anything about” an intelligence briefing publicly.
“The proper, standard thing for any candidate to do would be to say nothing about it — to at most acknowledge a briefing happened,” he added. “It’s quite out of order to start talking about body language.”
Pillar views Trump’s remarks as crossing a line.
“This is a courtesy provided by the intelligence community to the candidate to help keep them as smart as possible on things the agencies are following, and to turn it around and try and take electoral advantage of it by reading something into it, like [officials] not liking what the current administration is doing, is simply not in order,” he said, adding he’d “be very, very surprised any intelligence analyst would indicate anything about pleasure or displeasure with current policies.”
Pillar’s sentiment was seconded by Bruce Riedel, senior fellow and director of the Brookings Institute Intelligence Project.
“I don’t know of any precedent,” Riedel wrote in an email. “It’s also questionable that intelligence briefers would criticize policy decisions even by body language.”
Alan Makovsky, senior national security fellow at the Center for American Progress and a former senior staff member on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, characterized Trump’s remarks as “astonishing.” (ThinkProgress is an editorially independent part of CAP.)
“Speaking as a former member of the [intelligence] community, I think it would put a cloud over the careers of the briefers if people took Trump’s comments seriously,” he said. “If the body language stuff was believed by their superiors, it’d be the last briefing they ever got.”
During a press conference today, Hillary Clinton characterized Trump’s comments as “totally inappropriate and undisciplined,” adding she’d “never comment on any aspect of an intelligence briefing that I received.”
The Washington Post reports that during his first briefing on August 17, Trump was accompanied by Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) and retired U.S. Army Gen. Michael Flynn.
“Trump and Christie listened politely but Flynn repeatedly interrupted the briefers and disparaged their work, according to former officials familiar with the matter,” the Post reports.
(h/t ThinkProgress)
Reality
Retired Col. Steve Ganyard told ABC News the intelligence community was ‘quite upset‘ over Donald Trump’s comments and he “crossed a line.”
Trump placed officers in a terrible situation. Active military is forbidden against wading into political matters, so it would be impossible for the briefers to defend themselves. These people spend years training their bodies to not betray their thoughts. If the body language stuff was believed by their superiors, it’d be the last briefing they ever got.
Media
VIDEO: Trump says he could tell his classified intel briefers aren't happy with Obama because of their body language https://t.co/vBEAPKJk7d
Without setting foot on a battlefield, Donald Trump said he received a Purple Heart medal on Tuesday at his rally in Ashburn, Virginia, from a retired lieutenant colonel and supporter.
“I said to him, ‘Is that like the real one, or is that a copy?” the Republican nominee said moments after taking the stage at a local high school.
Trump recounted the exchange, remarking that the man, who he identified as retired Lt. Col. Louis Dorfman said, “That’s my real Purple Heart. I have such confidence in you.”
“And I said, ‘Man, that’s like big stuff. I always wanted to get the Purple Heart,” Trump said. “This was much easier.”
Trump then invited Dorfman to appear onstage with him on camera, as the two posed for photographs and Trump flashed a thumbs-up before placing the Purple Heart back in his suit jacket pocket.
Trump then told his audience that he had asked Dorfman to speak, but that the man had told him, “No, sir. I’d just like you to keep saying what you’ve been saying.”
The Republican nominee has been under fire in recent days for his attacks on the Gold Star family of a fallen Muslim U.S. Army captain who spoke at last week’s Democratic National Convention to denounce Trump’s comments on immigration.
Following Trump’s statement, NBC reporter Katy Tur tweeted that she had spoken with Dorfman and that he said the medal he gave to Trump was a copy of the one awarded to him.
Donald Trump’s spokeswoman Katrina Pierson blamed the policies of President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for the death of Army Capt. Humayun Khan, despite the fact that Khan died in 2004.
“It was under Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton that changed the rules of engagement that probably cost his life,” spokeswoman Katrina Pierson said in an interview Tuesday with CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer.
Khan died during the presidency of George W. Bush, while Obama was a state senator in Illinois.
Later Wolf Blitzer actually had to go back on air and fact-check Pierson’s comments that yes, Obama was not president in 2004.
Khan is the son of Ghazala and Khizr Khan, whose condemnation of Trump on Thursday night at the Democratic National Convention received widespread coverage.
Rules of engagement constitute the military policy that specify when soldiers are authorized for use of force.
Trump fired back at the Khans after the speech, drawing bipartisan criticism from officials including Obama and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) said he would vote for Clinton over Trump following his comments about the Gold Star family.
Pierson also said in the CNN interview that Trump “never voted for the Iraq War.” BuzzFeedpreviously reported that Trump expressed support for the invasion during a 2002 interview with radio host Howard Stern.
Eric Trump defended his father Tuesday from criticism for his treatment of the family of a slain Muslim US soldier and said that he had already apologized to the Khans and Gold Star families — despite the fact that the senior Trump has pointedly declined to apologize.
Appearing on “CBS This Morning,” Trump was pressed about his father’s lack of apology for his criticism of the Khan family, even amid stinging bipartisan condemnation for his remarks.
The senior Trump has so far not apologized for his remarks toward the Khans, despite Eric Trump’s claim.
“Would your father be willing to apologize and move on?” co-host Norah O’Donnell asked.
“I think that’s a great question for him, and I think he has by calling them a hero,” Trump responded.
“In terms of the one question — whether you’ve made a sacrifice — I think my father has. Now, that’s certainly not the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice is a soldier dying for this nation, dying to protect the three of us, no doubt about it –”
Co-host Gayle King interjected, “Is it difficult for your father to apologize?”
“My father’s a fighter,” Trump said. “I think that’s what this country needs is a fighter. And I think he was attacked the other day — he was attacked viciously — and by the way, that’s politics. You’re going to get attacked.”
Co-host Charlie Rose pivoted, asking instead: “Who tells your father he’s wrong?”
“We can tell him he’s wrong,” Trump laughed.
“When’s the last time you told him he’s wrong?” Rose pressed.
Trump replied, “Listen, we do it respectfully, we go back and forth as a family. I think that’s actually the benefit of having children be part of this process.”
King tried again to push Trump on the Khans: “Do you think he’s wrong on this?”
“I think this is something that’s honestly blown hugely out of proportion,” Trump countered, proceeding to argue that Donald Trump had praised the family as “amazing people” and that his focus was ultimately on security issues and dealing with illegal immigration and Syrian refugees.
It appears the apple does not fall far from the tree when it comes to facts.
Eric Trump also made several other false statements:
That French priest Jacques Hamel was beheaded, when he was actually stabbed in the throat.
Said that Donald Trump was against the Iraq war before the invasion, which was debunked months ago.
Said that Donald Trump was against interventions in Libya, but we have a 2011 video of Donald Trump pushing for Libyan intervention.
Along with fact-checking, here is why this incident is concerning and adds to the growing evidence that Donald Trump is not fit for the office of the Presidency. Eric Trump called his father a “fighter” and Donald Trump in the past has defended his actions as “counter-punching,” but the Republican presidential nominee’s very first reaction to the valid criticism of his sacrifice and his knowledge of the United States Constitution was to “counter-punch” a grieving mother of a dead American soldier who stood on a stage and said nothing. Think about that.
The person who takes the oath of office and occupies the White House should not be someone who picks a fight at every opportunity as sees every criticism as a “vicious attack.” Instead, as history has shown, a degree of “presidential restraint” is required to be a Commander-in-Chief, which is something Donald Trump has yet to show it is something he is capable of.
Take for instance President Harry Truman’s refusal to order the use of atomic weapons during the Korean War. Its impact has been as permanent as it has been under appreciated, for the effect of Truman’s rejection of the bomb was to establish a taboo against nuclear use that has lasted all these years.
Republican nominee Donald Trump, facing backlash over his controversial remarks about the family of slain Army Capt. Humayun Kahn, continued to aggressively push back against critics.
During an interview on CNN’s “New Day,” where Khizr Khan and Ghazala Khan, the parents of Humayun Kkhan, shared memories of their son and discussed Trump’s ignorance of the Constitution, Trump himself was apparently watching because he sent out this tweet:
Mr. Khan, who does not know me, viciously attacked me from the stage of the DNC and is now all over T.V. doing the same – Nice!
This came to the attention of CNN host Dan Berman who asked for a response. Khizr Khan extended to Donald Trump and his Republican supporters a plea for unity and empathy. He stressed the need to work with Muslim communities to combat radicalization, while again slamming Trump for his divisive rhetoric.
“Communities coming together is the solution. We are as concerned as Donald Trump is about the safety of this country. We are a testament to the goodness of this country,” he said. “We need a leader that will unite us, not disrespect, not by derogatory remarks. I feel bad about the discourse that this campaign, this election campaign has taken.”
“That’s all I wish to convey to him. That a good leader has one trait — earlier I said — empathy.”
Trump then tweeted his perceived lack of respect for the family of a fallen U.S. soldier served as a distraction from issues that were more pertinent to the presidential campaign.
“This story is not about Mr. Khan, who is all over the place doing interviews, but rather RADICAL ISLAMIC TERRORISM and the U.S. Get smart!” Trump tweeted in reference to the appearance.
This story is not about Mr. Khan, who is all over the place doing interviews, but rather RADICAL ISLAMIC TERRORISM and the U.S. Get smart!
Moreover, the families of 11 fallen service members have demanded an apology for “repugnant” and “personally offensive” remarks made by Trump, in a letter published by VoteVets Action Fund, the progressive advocacy wing of the political action committee for VoteVets.org.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan praised the sacrifices made by the Khan family, in statements made over the weekend. Without naming Trump, they implied that his criticism of the Khan family and his proposal to temporarily bar Muslims from entering the U.S. ran contrary to American values.
“All Americans should value the patriotic service of the patriots who volunteer to selflessly defend us in the armed services. And as I have long made clear, I agree with the Khans and families across the country that a travel ban on all members of a religion is simply contrary to American values,” McConnell wrote.
In a similar statement, Ryan said, “America’s greatness is built on the principles of liberty and preserved by the men and women who wear the uniform to defend it. As I have said on numerous occasions, a religious test for entering our country is not reflective of these fundamental values. I reject it.”
John McCain joined the chorus of Republicans condemning Donald Trump’s attacks saying in statement, “Arizona is watching. It is time for Donald Trump to set the example for our country and the future of the Republican Party. While our party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us.”
Ghazala Khan told CNN, “I’m so happy to be saying that I’m a Muslim woman. I’m very glad to be in this country.”
“Someone has to pay a price for this freedom that we have,” she added about her son’s service.
Also, in an opinion article published in The Washington Post, Ms. Khan rebuked Mr. Trump for suggesting earlier in the weekend that she had not been permitted to speak at the Democratic convention. Ms. Khan said she did not speak because she did not believe she could remain composed while talking about her son.
The Khan family’s criticisms are not about terrorism, but Trump’s lack of understanding of the fundamentals of the United States Constitution and his personal attack on Ms. Khan, asserting she was not “allowed” to speak at their DNC speech.
By ignoring Khan family’s statements and instead painting his response as a broader issue of “radical Islamic terrorism,” Donald Trump is attempting to either cowardly deflect a very valid criticism or he is dishonestly trying to link the Khans to terrorists.
Donald Trump’s first reaction to Army father Khizr Khan’s passionate Democratic National Convention speech was to question Khan’s wife’s silence, implying Ghazala Khan wasn’t allowed to speak during the speech because she is Muslim.
“If you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say. She probably, maybe she wasn’t allowed to have anything to say. You tell me, but plenty of people have written that she was extremely quiet, and it looked like she had nothing to say,” Trump told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an interview published Saturday.
On Thursday at the DNC, Khan spoke of his son, U.S. Army Capt. Humayun Khan, who was killed by a car bomb in 2004 while guarding the gates of his base in Iraq, saving the lives of his fellow soldiers and civilians. Khan’s son was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. At the DNC, Khan said Trump has “sacrificed nothing and no one.”
Trump rebutted Khan, telling Stephanopoulos that he has made sacrifices through his success as a businessman. He also questioned if Khan wrote his own speech, asking, “Who wrote that? Did Hillary’s scriptwriters write it?”
The Clinton campaign had offered the services of a speechwriter, but according to Politico, Khan declined, opting to write his address himself.
Trump said, “I think I’ve made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard. I’ve created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures. I’ve had tremendous success. I think I’ve done a lot.”
In an interview with Maureen Dowd of The New York Times on Friday night, Trump’s only response to Khan’s speech was simply: “I’d like to hear his wife say something.”
Ghazala Khan explained to MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell on Friday that she was anxious during her husband’s speech, knowing her son’s photo would appear behind her.
“It was very nervous, because I cannot see my son’s picture and I cannot even come in the room where his pictures are, and that’s why when I saw the picture on my back, I couldn’t take it. And I controlled myself at that time, so it is very hard,” she said.
Khizr Khan also noted to O’Donnell that he could not have spoken at the DNC without his wife’s close support.
“Her being there was the strength that I could hold my composure. I am much weaker than she is in such matters,” Khan said.
Hillary Clinton said in a statement Saturday: “I was very moved to see Ghazala Khan stand bravely and with dignity in support of her son on Thursday night. And I was very moved to hear her speak last night, bravely and with dignity, about her son’s life and the ultimate sacrifice he made for his country.”
Clinton’s statement did not mention Trump by name. “This is a time for all Americans to stand with the Khans, and with all the families whose children have died in service to our country,” Clinton said. “And this is a time to honor the sacrifice of Captain Khan and all the fallen. Captain Khan and his family represent the best of America, and we salute them.”
Khan clarified to O’Donnell that the other message in his speech was directed toward Republican leaders House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, calling on them to denounce Trump.
“There is so much at stake, and I appeal to both of these leaders: This is the time. There comes a time in the history of a nation where an ethical, moral stand has to be taken regardless of the political costs,” Khan said. “The only reason they’re not repudiating his behavior, his threat to our democracy, our decency, our foundation, is just because of political consequences.”
Khan vowed that he will continue to pressure McConnell and Ryan to stop Trump, calling it a “moral imperative” to do so. Otherwise, he said they will “sink the ship” of the Republican Party.
Ryan has previously rebuked Trump’s proposed plan to temporarily bar Muslims from entering the U.S. On Saturday, a spokesperson for Ryan said the House speaker does not support the proposal and has spoken out about it.
“The speaker has made clear many times that he rejects this idea, and himself has talked about how Muslim Americans have made the ultimate sacrifice for this country,” spokesperson AshLee Strong said.
If Donald Trump wants to be the commander-in-chief, which will place him at the head of the armed services of the United States of America, then he has a few things to learn because he is so wrong here.
First, insulting the mother of an Army Captain who gave up his life to defend this country is a despicable act and is beneath the office Trump is trying to seek. Because an attack on one parent of a fallen armed forces member is an attack on all parents of fallen armed forces members.
Second, when you join the Army, Navy, Marines, or Air Force, you are entered into a brotherhood (and sisterhood) where labels do not apply. You are not white or black, you are a soldier. You are not gay or straight, you are a soldier. And you are not Christian or Muslim, you are a soldier.
Donald Trump praised a Muslim U.S. soldier killed in Iraq but in the same breath continued to criticize the man’s father, who spoke out against Trump at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
After a day of backlash over the GOP presidential nominee’s comments regarding the family of Humayun Khan, Trump released a statement late Saturday night honoring him.
“Captain Humayun Khan was a hero to our country and we should honor all who have made the ultimate sacrifice to keep our country safe. The real problem here are the radical Islamic terrorist who killed him, and the efforts of these radicals to enter our country and do us further harm,” Trump said.
“While I feel deeply for the loss of his son, Mr. Khan who has never met me, has no right to stand in front of millions of people and claim I have never read the Constitution, (which is false) and say many other inaccurate things. If I become President, I will make America safe again.”
Khan’s father, Khizr Khan, a lawyer who immigrated from Pakistan, addressed the Democratic convention last week, asking what Trump had sacrificed and whether he had ever read the Constitution.
Trump lashed out at Khan and his wife, Ghazala, who stood at his side on the stage, on Saturday.
The GOP nominee said he had “made a lot of sacrifices” through his work and raised questions about Khan’s speech and why his wife hadn’t spoken, suggesting that she “wasn’t allowed” because of her Muslim faith. Ghazala Khan later said she was too upset to take the microphone.
The comments immediately sparked backlash from both Republicans and Democrats.
In his Saturday statement, Trump bashed Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton for her Middle East foreign policy record and the attack on U.S. personnel in Benghazi and warned against radical Islamism and immigration from certain countries.
“Given the state of the world today, we have to know everything about those looking to enter our country, and given the state of chaos in some of these countries, that is impossible,” he said.
This is yet another example of Donald Trump’s ignorance of the United States Constitution. There are no set of rights just for Donald Trump and another set of rights for everyone else. Khazir Kahn and his wife have the exact same rights of equal protection and free speech Trump does.
Almost four months after promising $1 million of his own money to veterans’ causes, Donald Trump moved to fulfill that pledge Monday evening — promising the entire sum to a single charity as he came under intense media scrutiny.
Trump, now the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, organized a nationally televised fundraiser for veterans’ causes in Des Moines on Jan. 28. That night, Trump said he had raised $6 million, including the gift from his own pocket.
“Donald Trump gave $1 million,” he said then.
As recently as last week, Trump’s campaign manager had insisted that the mogul had already given that money away. But that was false: Trump had not.
In recent days, The Washington Post and other media outlets had pressed Trump and his campaign for details about how much the fundraiser had actually raised and whether Trump had given his portion.
The candidate refused to provide details. On Monday, a Post reporter used Twitter — Trump’s preferred social-media platform — to search publicly for any veterans groups that had received Trump’s money.
By Monday afternoon, The Post had found none. But it seems to have caught the candidate’s attention.
Later Monday evening, Trump called the home of James K. Kallstrom, a former FBI official who is chairman of the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation. The charity aids families of fallen Marines and federal law enforcement officers.
Trump told Kallstrom that he would give the entire $1 million to the group, according to Kallstrom’s wife. Sue Kallstrom said she was not sure whether the money had been transferred yet. However on May 25th it was confirmed the transaction was completed.
Other big donors to Trump’s fundraiser had already made their gifts weeks before. Why had Trump waited so long?
“You have a lot of vetting to do,” Trump said Tuesday in a telephone interview conducted while he was flying to a campaign rally in Albuquerque.
For this particular donation, it would seem that little new vetting was required because Trump already knew the recipient well. The Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation had already received more than $230,000 in donations from the Donald J. Trump Foundation — a charity controlled by Trump but largely funded by others. Last year, the group gave Trump its “Commandant’s Leadership Award” at a gala in New York.
When asked Tuesday whether he had given the money this week only because reporters had been asking about it, Trump responded: “You know, you’re a nasty guy. You’re really a nasty guy. I gave out millions of dollars that I had no obligation to do.”
Trump’s call on Monday night stood in contradiction to an account given Friday by campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. “The money is fully spent,” Lewandowski said then. “Mr. Trump’s money is fully spent.”
On Tuesday, Trump said Lewandowski would not have been in a position to know that. “I don’t know that Corey would even know when I gave it out,” he said.
In the same interview, Trump said the fundraiser had raised about $5.5 million for veterans overall. He said he was not sure how much of it remained to be given away.
That also contrasted with the account last week from Lewandowski, who said that about $4.5 million had been raised and that Trump’s effort had fallen short of the promised $6 million because some unnamed big donors had backed out.
On Tuesday, Trump said no major contributors had reneged. “For the most part, I think they all came through,” he said. “Some of them came through very late.”
Trump also said he had never actually promised that the fundraiser had raised $6 million. “I didn’t say six,” he said.
But, in video of the event, Trump tells the crowd, “We just cracked $6 million! Right? $6 million.”
Trump was told that he did, indeed, say “$6 million.”
“Well, I don’t, I don’t have the notes. I don’t have the tape of it,” he said. “Play [the tape] for me. Because I’d like to hear it.” Before the video could be cued up, Trump had moved on.
The story of his nighttime gift seemed to highlight a unique quality of Trump: his acute sensitivity to losing face on social media. He had routinely rejected questions about the fundraiser for veterans if they were posed in person.
“Why should I give you records?” Trump said in an interview with The Post earlier this month, when he was asked about the money. “I don’t have to give you records.”
Then, on Monday, a Post reporter publicly queried multiple veterans groups on Twitter, asking whether they had received personal donations from Trump. None had.
Hours later, after 10:38 p.m. Eastern time, Trump responded on Twitter: “While under no obligation to do so, I have raised between 5 & 6 million dollars, including 1million dollars from me, for our VETERANS. Nice!”
And sometime that same evening, Trump called to make the donation to James Kallstrom’s group. Sue Kallstrom wasn’t sure what time the call was, only that it happened after she went to bed at 8 p.m.
“I guess he wants to take care of the vets,” she said. Among its other good works, the foundation provides $30,000 educational grants to the children of the fallen. “The foundation is thrilled, because the [money] is going to help a lot of people. Especially the children.”
Trump’s campaign has said the remainder of the donations would be given out by Memorial Day. Trump said he would ask his staff to send The Post a list of the groups that would receive that money, but his staff did not immediately provide it.
But it did appear that Trump’s staff was preparing to disburse more gifts. In Boston on Tuesday, the founder of the city’s annual Wounded Vet Bike Run got a call.
“For some reason, a Trump campaign worker reached out to me today and asked for our nonprofit number, and I gave it to ’em,” said Andrew Biggio, the group’s founder.
The annual motorcycle ride raises money to help veterans and their families, including giving away cars and retrofitting motorcycles for the disabled. He said the staffer did not tell him how much money to expect. “I have no idea what’s coming down the pike,” Biggio said.
In recent weeks, other veterans groups had been struggling to figure out how to ask for some of Trump’s remaining money. Trump had provided no formal way to apply.
Biggio said he had not formally applied but was pretty sure how he had come to be on Trump’s radar.
“I served in Iraq with Donald Trump’s bodyguard’s son,” he said.
Donald Trump made good on his promise to give $1 million dollars to veteran charities, four full months after he claimed he already donated the money.
While a $1 million dollar donation to veterans groups is an amazing gesture, it is hardly altruistic. The televised fundraiser only came about so he could dodge debate questions from Megyn Kelly about his past sexist comments towards women. Then Trump attempted to extort Fox News for an illegal “quid pro quo” donation of $5 million dollars to appear at their Iowa debate. Then for the next 4 months Trump lied again and again when he boasted about his charitable donation to his rallies.
On 1/28, Trump released a press release indicating that Mr. Trump made a $1 million dollar contribution at a special event in Des Moines to benefit vets.
The conservative newspaper The Weekly Standard broke the story on 2/18 that the Trump campaign was refusing to acknowledge how much money was disbursed saying, “You can do your homework and ask the veterans’ organizations.” They did and found out that only about $500,000 was distributed to veterans charities at that time.
On 2/26, the conservative pundit Stuart Varney on Fox Business News corroborated The Weekly Standard’s story with their own investigation by checking with the charities a full month after the fundraiser and found that only $650,000 of the supposed $6 million raised had been distributed to charities.
Two months after the fundraiser on 4/7, the not-very-liberal Wall Street Journal again talked to the veteran charities and found only $2.4 million was distributed.
Then on 5/20, The Washington Post followed up with the 22 veteran charities and only $3.1 million could be accounted for. Furthering the scandal, the Trump campaign confirmed that only $4.5 million and not $6 million was raised while claiming $1 million dollars donated by Trump was already given to the charities but refused to share evidence:
Did Trump make good on his promise to give from his personal funds?
“The money is fully spent. Mr. Trump’s money is fully spent,” Lewandowski said.
To whom did Trump give, and in what amounts?
“He’s not going to share that information,” Lewandowski said.
Then, to the surprise of no one, Trump insulted the reporter who caught him trying to cheat our veterans, then later at a press conference tried to turn this around on the “dishonest” media.
As a side note, this is the first time Donald Trump has given any of his personal money to a charity of any kind in over 5 years.
One night in January, Donald Trump skipped a GOP debate and instead held his own televised fundraiser for veterans. At the end of the night, Trump proclaimed it a huge success: “We just cracked $6 million, right? Six million.”
Now, Trump’s campaign says that number is incorrect.
Campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said the fundraiser actually netted about $4.5 million, or 75 percent of the total that Trump announced.
Lewandowski blamed the shortfall on Trump’s own wealthy acquaintances. He said some of them had promised big donations that Trump was counting on when he said he had raised $6 million. But Lewandowski said those donors backed out and gave nothing.
“There were some individuals who he’d spoken to, who were going to write large checks, [who] for whatever reason . . . didn’t do it,” Lewandowski said in a telephone interview. “I can’t tell you who.”
Lewandowski also said he did not know whether a $1 million pledge from Trump himself was counted as part of the $4.5 million total. He said Trump has given that amount, but he declined to identify any recipients.
The comments appear to be the first acknowledgment — almost four months later — that Trump’s fundraiser had brought in less than the candidate said. Lewandowski said he did not know the exact total raised or how much of it remained unspent.
Even with the lower total, Trump’s fundraiser brought in millions of dollars for veterans’ charities. The Washington Post’s accounting, based on interviews with charities, has found at least $3.1 million in donations to veterans groups.
Trump’s fundraiser Jan. 28 was an indelible moment, a one-night showcase of the GOP front-runner’s boldness and charm.
In a single evening in Des Moines, Trump showed Fox News — the host of that night’s Trump-less debate — that he was powerful enough to spurn the Fox network.
At the same time, he showed a national audience that he could conjure a multimillion-dollar benefit out of nothing, using connections, showmanship and his own wealth.
“Donald Trump — another great builder in New York, now a politician — I can’t stand this, a politician,” Trump said, in his trademark run-on style, after he’d listed a series of gifts from other wealthy friends. “I don’t want to be called a politician. All talk, no action — I refuse to be called a politician. Donald Trump gave $1 million. Okay?”
In the days after the fundraiser, Trump repeated the $6 million figure in TV appearances and at Iowa rallies. “At that rally we raised, in one hour, $6 million. Is that good?” Trump said four days afterward at a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
At first, he was very public about giving the money away. In rallies across Iowa, Trump would call representatives of local veterans groups up to the stage and present them with oversize checks.
In some cases, the money came from friends of Trump’s who sent checks directly to veterans groups. In other cases, the money was routed through Trump’s personal foundation.
For the groups that received this money — often dealing with aging veterans from the Vietnam War, along with returning troops from Iraq and Afghanistan — the money was an enormous help.
“It’s all long gone,” said James Kallstrom, a retired FBI official who is the chairman of the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation. In March, his group received $100,000, which Kallstrom said would go toward $30,000 educational grants for the children of Marines killed on active duty. “I believe there was a helicopter crash that had, oh God, I forget how many there were. . . . They’re all young, and they all have young children.”
But, as the race continued, the checks from the fundraiser began to come less frequently. The most recent check identified by The Post was dated March 25.
In recent weeks, Trump and his campaign repeatedly declined to give new details about how much they have given away.
“Why should I give you records?” Trump said in an interview with The Post this month. “I don’t have to give you records.”
Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said Trump’s refusal to divulge how much of the money he had distributed raised questions about whether the candidate intended the fundraiser primarily as a public-relations effort for himself.
“That’s just shady. Right? No matter how you cut it, that’s just shady,” Rieckhoff said. “If he was going to make it right, a couple of weeks before Memorial Day would be a good time to do it. It behooves him, not just politically but ethically, to come forward and account for this money.”
Trump provided no official way for charities to apply for the money. Groups around the country still tried, sending letters and hitting up local veterans-for-Trump leaders.
“We haven’t heard anything,” said Judy Schaffer of Heroes to Heroes, a New Jersey-based group that sends veterans on nondenominational trips to Israel to prevent suicide and promote “spiritual healing.” Her group had received a donation from Trump’s personal foundation years before.
“We have a waiting list of over 200 veterans. Many of them have already attempted suicide,” Schaffer said this week. “And it keeps me up at night, not being able to send more people.”
Lewandowski said Trump has decided on about two dozen groups that will get the remainder of the money in the next couple of weeks. He said the groups have been vetted and had been chosen by word of mouth within the Trump campaign or from causes Trump had previously supported.
Lewandowski said Trump should not be faulted for promising $6 million in donations.
“What he said was, ‘We hope to get $6 million.’ He said this at an event where we were trying to get money. It was a best guess,” Lewandowski said. “That was his goal. His goal was to get somewhere around $6 million.”
On the night of the fundraiser, Trump named nine big donors, including himself.
Since then, The Post has found evidence from Trump’s staff, from the donors or from veterans charities that received money that seven of those nine gave money as promised. Those gifts added up to $3.78 million.
On top of that, Trump said small-dollar donors gave $670,000 over the Internet. That adds up to $4.45 million.
So, were those other two big donors among the ones who backed out?
One of them was a shopping-mall magnate from Ohio who did not respond to multiple calls, emails and messages from The Post seeking to confirm his donations. But even if that man did back out, his pledge was so small — $50,000 — that it would make little difference in a tally of millions.
The other donor had made a much bigger promise: Trump, with his vow to give $1 million.
In the past few days, The Post has interviewed 22 veterans charities that received donations as a result of Trump’s fundraiser. None of them have reported receiving personal donations from Trump.
Did Trump make good on his promise to give from his personal funds?
“The money is fully spent. Mr. Trump’s money is fully spent,” Lewandowski said.
To whom did Trump give, and in what amounts?
“He’s not going to share that information,” Lewandowski said.
Reality
Controversy still surrounds Trump’s January fundraiser for vets called “Scared of Debate Questions From Megyn Kelly.” Sorry that was a typo. The fundraiser was called “Rally For Vets” and Trump claimed it raised $6 million dollars, including $1 million of his own money.
Four months later and the Washington Post uncovered the fundraiser only netted $4.5 million and only $3.1 million has been distributed to charities. Furthermore the Trump campaign refuses to provide evidence that Trump donated his promised $1 million dollars.
This is serious stuff. There are real veterans with real physical and psychological problems in need. If Trump continues to claim he’s for vets then this is a lousy way to prove it.
