President Donald Trump, a five-time draft dodger, has plotted how to bestow upon himself the U.S. military’s highest honor while scrambling over a war he started.
White House insiders told The Wall Street Journal in a report published Saturday night that amid the chaos of his war on Iran, Trump, 79, has considered giving himself the Medal of Honor—the nation’s most prestigious military recognition.
Citing a senior administration official and people who had spoken with the president, the newspaper reported that Trump has been panicking over his handling of the war he started.
The officials said that apart from melting down so dramatically that he was banished from a briefing on a downed-pilot rescue mission, the president has repeatedly shifted focus to other topics, be it his $400 million ballroom or fundraisers for the upcoming midterms.
Among those distractions, the insiders said Trump has mused about honoring himself with the Medal of Honor—an award authorized by the commander in chief to recognize a military service member who “distinguishes himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.”
The Journal reported that Trump pondered the idea during a White House reception ahead of the nation’s semiquincentennial this July, saying he deserved it because his plane flew into Iraq on an unlit runway during a first-term trip to visit troops stationed in the country, citing people who were at the event.
The Daily Beast reached out to the White House for comment.
It’s not the first time the president has sought the prestigious accolade.
During a speech in Georgia in February, Trump riffed about how he tried to give himself the Congressional Medal of Honor after the Iraq trip.
“I flew to Iraq and was extremely brave. In fact, so brave I wanted to give myself the Congressional Medal of Honor,” Trump said. “I said to my people: am I allowed to give myself the Congressional Medal of Honor?”
Trump noted how he’d bestowed the decoration upon numerous amputees and said it would be a “stretch” to give it to himself, but didn’t rule out the possibility.
“I’m going to test the law, I’m going to say… let’s give it a shot. Maybe I’ll win in court after everyone sues me," he added.
Trump, who has reportedly called fallen soldiers “losers” and “suckers,” notably received five draft deferments for the Vietnam War during the 1960s, four of which were for education, and the last one, in 1968, for bone spurs.
The president’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, testified before Congress in February 2019 that Trump had fabricated that he had bone spurs in his heels so he could avoid military service.
“Mr. Trump claimed (his medical deferment) was because of a bone spur, but when I asked for medical records, he gave me none and said there was no surgery,” Cohen, now 59, told members of the House Oversight Committee. “He told me not to answer the specific questions by reporters but rather offer simply the fact that he received a medical deferment.”
“He finished the conversation with the following comment: ‘You think I’m stupid, I wasn’t going to Vietnam,’” Cohen added.
The president has already received numerous vanity awards throughout his second administration, including his status as the “Undisputed Champion of Coal” and as the recipient of the inaugural “FIFA Peace Prize.”
Trump’s need for positive recognition comes amid his plummeting approval rating, as an NBC News poll published on Sunday shows that nearly two-thirds of Americans disapprove of the president’s performance overall, and only 33 percent approve of his handling of his war with Iran.
Since the conflict began on Feb. 28, 13 American service members have been confirmed to have been killed in the conflict, and hundreds more have been injured.
In a video address on March 1, the president said that “there will likely be more” American soldiers who die before the conflict is over. “That’s the way it is,” he added.
Vice President JD Vance, along with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and real estate mogul-turned-diplomat Steve Witkoff, were set to meet with Iranian officials on Monday in Islamabad for a second round of negotiations. However, the nation rejected the potential peace talks, Iranian state news reported on Sunday.
As the already shaky ceasefire comes to an end this week on April 22, it’s unclear what the conflict’s timeframe will be. Trump said previously that the war will end “when I feel it in my bones.”
