--- title: "Trump reportedly didn’t want wounded warriors in his military parade because it wouldn’t ‘look good’" description: "A recent New Yorker article claims that former President Donald Trump didn’t want wounded troops in a parade because it wouldn’t “look good.”" date: "2022-08-08" modified: "2022-08-08" authors: - name: "Haley Britzky" job_title: "Former Army Reporter" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/haley-britzky/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/trump-military-parade-wounded-veterans/" categories: - "Afghanistan" - "Afghanistan War" - "Army" - "Around the World" - "Europe" - "History" - "Iraq" - "Iraq War" - "Marine Corps" - "Middle East" - "Military Branches" - "News" - "Past Conflicts" - "United States" - "World War II" --- # Trump reportedly didn’t want wounded warriors in his military parade because it wouldn’t ‘look good’ ![]() *President Donald Trump salutes cadets at the beginning of the commencement ceremony on June 13, 2020 in West Point, New York. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)* After viewing a Bastille Day celebration military parade in France in 2017, former President Donald Trump said he wanted something similar for the Fourth of July. But there was one thing the French had that he wanted to be kept out of his parade: Wounded veterans. “Look, I don’t want any wounded guys in the parade,” Trump said, [according to a recent article that ran in the New Yorker](). “This doesn’t look good for me.” “Those are our heroes,” reportedly countered John Kelly, Trump’s chief of staff and a retired Marine Corps general. “In our society, there’s only one group of people who are more heroic than they are—and they are buried over in Arlington.” “I don’t want them,” Trump reportedly said again. “It doesn’t look good for me.” ![]() *French President Emmanuel Macron (2nd R) and his wife Brigitte Macron walk with US President Donald Trump (2nd L) and US First Lady Melania Trump after attending the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris on July 14, 2017. (Christophe Archambault/AFP via Getty Images)* The account is one of several moments regarding Trump’s thoughts on the military included [in a new book]() by the New York Times’ Peter Baker and the New Yorker’s Susan Glasser, outlined in the New Yorker article published on Monday. It’s reminiscent of reporting from [The Atlantic in 2020](), which said Trump referred to America’s war dead as “losers” and “suckers” for getting killed. Trump later [denied]() ever making the comments. In the same article, The Atlantic reported that Trump said in 2018 he didn’t want any wounded warriors in a military parade: “Nobody wants to see that,” he reportedly said. In the newest account published Monday, Trump took issue with France’s Bastille Day parade having “several formations of injured veterans, including wheelchair-bound soldiers who had lost limbs in battle.” The New Yorker reports that defense officials around Trump pushed back against the idea of holding a parade at all, with then-Defense Secretary James Mattis quoted as saying he would “rather swallow acid.” ![]() *U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis listens as U.S. President Donald Trump answers questions during a meeting with military leaders in the Cabinet Room on October 23, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)* > [**Subscribe to Task & Purpose Today**]()**. Get the latest military news, entertainment, and gear in your inbox daily.** When asked by Trump what he thought about the idea of a parade, Air Force Gen. Paul Selva, vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reportedly tried to wave Trump off. “I didn’t grow up in the United States, I actually grew up in Portugal,” Selva said, according to the New Yorker. “Portugal was a dictatorship—and parades were about showing the people who had the guns. And in this country, we don’t do that … It’s not who we are.” Trump asked, “So, you don’t like the idea?” “No,” Selva reportedly responded. “It’s what dictators do.” Nevertheless, the next year Trump claimed military leaders [were “thrilled”]() to be involved in the “Salute to America” celebration, which [included static displays]() of Bradley Fighting Vehicles, M1 Abrams tanks, and Navy and Air Force [flyovers](). All in all, the parade was estimated to [cost $5.4 million](). ![]() *A firework display goes off shortly after a twenty-one cannon salute is fired by the Presidential Salute Battery, 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) and the U.S. Army Golden Knights parachuting onto White House grounds during Salute to America July 4, 2020. (Sgt. Kevin Roy/U.S. Army)* The break between Trump and defense officials was a frequent feature of his time in office, leading to [Mattis’ resignation]() at the end of 2018, [the firing]() of Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and criticisms of Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. That friction is further outlined in the New Yorker article, which detailed months of distrust and disagreements between the president and his senior military advisers. In one moment, Trump complained to Kelly about you “fucking generals,” and asked, “Why can’t you be like the German generals?” “Which generals?” Kelly asked, according to the New Yorker. “The German generals in World War II,” Trump said. “You do know that they tried to kill Hitler three times and almost pulled it off?” Kelly responded. ![]() *Mark Esper is sworn in to be the new U.S. Secretary of Defense as wife Leah Esper and U.S. President Donald Trump look on July 23, 2019 in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)* “No, no, no, they were totally loyal to him,” Trump reportedly said. There were dozens of assassination attempts against Hitler [reported by historians](), including one [in July 1944]() when a German colonel put a bomb in a briefcase and sat it near Hitler. The bomb detonated, but Hitler ultimately survived. In their article, Glasser and Baker report that the real issue between Trump and the generals was “a matter of values, of how they viewed the United States itself,” which was made clear in Trump’s admonishment of wounded veterans. That gap between them only seemed to grow over his time in office, which was further confirmed by Trump in a statement to the New Yorker. “These were very untalented people,” Trump said, “and once I realized it, I did not rely on them, I relied on the real generals and admirals within the system.” ## The latest on Task & Purpose - **Why** [**nobody wants to be a battalion commander**]() **in the Army Reserve** - **The Army has a drone flying over the American Southwest that** [**refuses to die**]() - **We salute the soldiers who named their tank ‘**[**Article 15**]()**’** - **This** [**little-known Air Force jet**]() **just became the most-watched aircraft in history** - **Here’s what all** [**those UFO sightings might be**]() **— and what the military may know** **Want to write for Task & Purpose?**[ **Click here**]()**. Or check out the latest stories on**[ **our homepage.**]() ## Author Haley Britzky was the Task & Purpose Army reporter from 2019 to 2022. She previously worked at Axios covering breaking news. She reports on important developments within the service, from new uniforms to new policies; the realities of military life facing soldiers and their families; and broader cultural issues that expand outside of the Army, touching each of the military services. ### Author social links [LinkedIn]() [Twitter]()