Donald Trump’s version of a Purple Heart ceremony apparently involves honoring himself.
The president, a reputed draft dodger, likened himself to America’s wounded or killed veterans Thursday: “It wasn’t that easy for me either,” he said.
The ceremony was attended by 100 Purple Heart recipients—three of whom had given Trump their own medals last year in the aftermath of the Butler, Pennsylvania, assassination attempt.
“Last year, after an assassin tried to take my life in Butler, Pennsylvania, Thomas generously mailed me one of his Purple Hearts. Many of the other veterans showed me the same unbelievable gesture of kindness, including three-time Purple Heart recipient John Ford and Gerald Enter Jr., who also came along with us and did us a great, great favor,” Trump said.
A bullet struck the top of Trump’s right ear during a campaign rally in July 2024.
“Gerald, John and Thomas, I want to thank you very much. What a great honor to get those Purple Hearts,” the president continued. “I guess in a certain way, it wasn’t that easy for me, either, when you think of it. But you went through a lot more than I did, and I appreciate it all very much.”
Trump’s gifted medals belie his candid disregard for the American military: He has requested that wounded veterans be kept out of military parades; refused to visit a World War II graveyard; deriding deceased soldiers as “suckers” and “losers”; and claimed that the Presidential Medal of Freedom he awarded to one of his billionaire donors was “much better” than the nation’s highest military honor, the Medal of Honor.
And Trump never earned his own military honors thanks to a conveniently timed bone spur diagnosis that helped him skirt the Vietnam War draft in 1968.
Trump: “What a great honor to get those Purple Hearts. I guess in a certain way it wasn’t that easy for me either, when you think of it.” pic.twitter.com/2KcHYziG4K
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 7, 2025
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