President Donald Trump moaned that he cannot be given the Congressional Medal of Honor immediately after the nation’s highest military award was handed to an actual war hero.
The president, who never served in the military and avoided the Vietnam War draft due to a disputed bone spur diagnosis, made the remark Tuesday during his State of the Union address as the Medal of Honor was awarded to retired Navy Capt. E. Royce Williams.
The 100-year-old Korean War veteran received the honor after shooting down four Soviet jets during a 35-minute dogfight in 1952. Williams’ heroics remained classified for decades, and his F9F-5 Panther was riddled with 263 bullet holes during the encounter.
After Congress gave a lengthy standing ovation to Williams, Trump couldn’t resist placing himself back at the center of attention.
“I’ve always wanted the Congressional Medal of Honor, but I was informed I’m not allowed to give it to myself, and I wouldn’t know why I’d be taking it,” Trump said.
“But if they ever open up that law, I will be there with you someday.”
Chief Warrant Officer Eric Slover, a special operations helicopter pilot who was severely wounded during the January raid that captured Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, was also awarded the Medal of Honor on Tuesday.
Last week, Trump told a crowd in Georgia that he wanted to award himself a Medal of Honor for being “brave” and flying to Iraq to meet troops during his first term
Trump could have been eligible for the Medal of Honor had he served in Vietnam. Instead, he received five draft deferments: four for being a college student and a fifth in 1968 following a diagnosis of bone spurs in his heels.
In 2018, The New York Times reported that the podiatrist who diagnosed Trump, Larry Braunstein, may have done so as a favor to Trump’s father, Fred Trump, who was his landlord.
Trump has a history of being given or demanding honors that he does not deserve, including being handed Purple Hearts–a medal awarded to service members who are wounded or killed in action against an enemy–by actual veterans.
In October 2024, a Vietnam vet presented the president with a Purple Heart at one stage during a town hall in North Carolina. A retired lieutenant colonel also gave him one at a Virginia rally in 2016.
“I always wanted to get the Purple Heart,” Trump said after being handed the medal by retired Lt. Col. Louis Dorfman in Ashburn. “This was much easier.”
Trump was also handed the FIFA Club World Cup trophy after English soccer team Chelsea won the tournament in July 2025, and has kept it on display in the Oval Office ever since.
