'Not too many Donalds': Trump jokes about his name during Memorial Day speech at Arlington
A somber service to commemorate America's fallen soldiers on Memorial Day turned somewhat controversial after President Donald Trump cracked a joke about his name and boasted his military prowess. Speaking at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, Trump paused to joke that there were "not too many" soldiers named Donald buried on the hallowed grounds where he stood, before claiming how great the U.S. military performed in Venezuela and Iran, under his command.
In his speech to honor fallen U.S. military members, including those laid to rest at the site of his speech, Trump praised the family members of deceased veterans who attended the address, and noted the names of some of the military personnel buried at the cemetery. "Four hundred thousand souls rest on these grounds, these beautiful grounds," Trump said. "More than eighteen thousand other young men named William, over twenty thousand named John, over thirteen thousand named James, joined over time by Isaacs, Elijahs, Earls, Hanks, Helens, Juans, Margarets, Marius," he went on before chuckling when his own name came up. "Donalds—not too many– and others whose names tell the true story of American greatness," the President said.
The comments come after the President's past landed him in controversy after he claimed he would've ended the Vietnam War "quickly," speaking on CNBC's 'Squawk Box'. At the time, critics noted that Trump deferred the mandatory military draft four times while attending college, and an additional time after graduation, with a diagnosis of "bone spurs” given to him by a family doctor, allegedly as a favor, according to the New York Times.
Apart from the joke, the Commander in Chief also boasted that no lives were lost in the military operation in Venezuela, before he paid tribute to the "13 wonderful souls" who were killed as part of his war with Iran. "In two wars recently, we've lost a total of 13 service members," he said. "In Venezuela, which was a complete and total victory, where we're working very closely with the Venezuelan government right now, we took that over in one day. Lost no one. In Operation Epic Fury, we lost 13 wonderful souls," the President said.
Before making it to the event, Trump started the day with a Social Media rant blasting Democratic leaders who criticized his potential peace deal with Iran. "I laugh at all of the Dumocrats, RINOS, and Fools who know nothing about the potential deal I am making with Iran, things that haven’t even been negotiated yet, weak and ineffective people," Trump wrote in a 6 a.m. post on Truth Social before naming Senator Thom Tillis, Bill Cassidy, and Thomas Massie, whom he called "a major sleazebag" who lost his primary elections to candidate endorsed by Trump. "These people should go home and rest; they do nothing but create division and loss," he continued. "In other words, they are losers!" he concluded. He then shared another post defending his deal, claiming that it will be nothing like the JCPOA that former President Barack Obama negotiated, before finally sharing a post acknowledging the Memorial Day holiday.
