Tensions in the Middle East reached a new level when Iran targeted Israel with a ballistic missile attack. Asked about the developments, Donald Trump thought largely about himself.
The former president not only claimed that the violence “would have never happened” were he still in office — a baseless assertion, to be sure — the Republican added there were no similar events during his White House term.
That, of course, was problematic in important ways. After all, many of us still remember the fact that Iran was responsible for a January 2020 missile attack that targeted U.S. forces stationed in Iraq. It was in response to a drone attack that killed Iranian general Quasem Soleimani.
The attack injured several dozen American servicemembers, many of whom were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries. The Pentagon ultimately approved Purple Hearts for 39 U.S. soldiers wounded in the attack.
Trump, the then-president, dismissed the importance of the injuries to his own country’s troops — he called them little more than “headaches” — prompting the Veterans of Foreign Wars to ask the Republican to apologize for minimizing the service members’ injuries. Trump ignored the request.
Nearly four years later, he did it again. The Washington Post reported:
Former president Donald Trump once again downplayed the traumatic brain injuries suffered by American soldiers in an Iranian missile strike on an air base in Iraq in 2020, describing them as “a headache,” in response to a question at a campaign event in Milwaukee on Tuesday.
As difficult as this was to believe, five weeks before Election Day, the Republican Party’s presidential nominee downplayed the importance of American troops who had traumatic brain injuries in response to an Iranian missile attack. Trump did this out loud, on camera, on purpose, and on the record.
“So, first of all, 'injured.' What does 'injured' mean?” the GOP candidate asked rhetorically. “Injured means — you mean because they had a headache? Because the bombs never hit the fort. So just so you understand, there was nobody ever tougher on Iraq.” (Yes, he confused Iran and Iraq.)
The first time Trump made comments like these, the VFW called the “headache” comments “misguided.” Nearly four years later, they have not improved with age.
But making matters worse is the larger context. It was, after all, just six weeks ago when the former president, hoping to impress a party megadonor, downplayed the significance of the Medal of Honor — comments the Veterans of Foreign Wars described as “asinine” — before sparking a related controversy with a political appearance at Arlington National Cemetery.
As regular readers know, Trump has also reportedly denigrated those who serve in the military and condemned fallen American heroes as “suckers.” (He denies doing so.) Trump has also complained bitterly about American military leaders, reportedly disparaged wounded veterans, blamed military leaders for failed missions he approved, feuded with Gold Star families, and famously declared in reference to American prisoners of war, “I like people that weren’t captured, okay?”
What’s more, as a candidate, Trump liked to say he “felt” like he had served in the military because his parents sent him to a military-themed boarding school as a teenager. He went so far as to boast that his expensive prep school gave him “more training militarily than a lot of the guys that go into the military,” which was a precursor to Trump pointing to bone spurs as part of an apparent effort to dodge the draft.
It was implausible that the Republican candidate could make matters worse — right up until he expressed indifference to troops with traumatic brain injuries.