President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the Pentagon’s top general was at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, but a Pentagon spokesman said Thursday that is not true.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, instead spoke a few miles away at a 9/11 anniversary event at the George W. Bush Presidential Center, according to video and his spokesman, Joe Holstead.
Trump, speaking at the political convention, said he wanted to thank Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Caine, and that they were both present.
“Where is General Caine?” Trump asked. “ … They’re here someplace.”
A White House spokeswoman, Anna Kelly, said in a statement that the president “rightfully thanked General Caine for all he has done to strengthen our military and make our homeland safer.” She did not address the inaccurate statement about Caine’s presence.
Pentagon regulations prohibit U.S. troops from attending “partisan political events as an official representative of the Armed Forces, except as a member of a joint Armed Forces color guard at the opening ceremonies.”
Caine, speaking at the 9/11 event, recalled his own experience as an F-16 fighter pilot with the D.C. National Guard on 9/11. The day, he said, was tragic but “also filled with beautiful examples of selfless courage, over and over again.”
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