Accusations of Donald Trump's alleged distaste and disregard for military members surfaced in recent profile of General Mark Milley.
The article claimed that the embattled ex-prez demanded that a "severely wounded" Army captain no longer be allowed to make appearances at public events while attending General Milley's 2019 welcome ceremony.
The incident occurred after Milley requested for Luis Avila — who "completed five combat tours, had lost a leg in an IED attack in Afghanistan, and had suffered two heart attacks, two strokes, and brain damage," according to the profile — to sing "God Bless America" at the high-profile event.
He was chosen because Milley and other service members believed that he "represented the heroism, sacrifice, and dignity of wounded soldiers."
However, Trump appeared to disagree. Following Avila's performance, the ex-prez congratulated the soldier. Later, he allegedly asked Milley, "Why do you bring people like that here? No one wants to see that, the wounded," before telling Milley not to let Avila "appear in public again," per the profile.
A second incident allegedly occurred when General Milley found himself attempting to explain the concept of war crimes to Trump. The 77-year-old had allegedly attempted to "intervene" in military legal proceedings after now-retired Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher was charged with several crimes under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
"He slit the throat of a wounded prisoner," Milley said, to which Trump replied that the prisoner "was going to die anyway."
"Mr. President, we have military ethics and laws about what happens in battle. We can’t do that kind of thing," the general responded. "It’s a war crime."
Trump allegedly said that he didn't understand the "big deal" because combat soldiers are "all just killers" anyway.
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This is far from the first time Trump has been accused of being flippant about the lives and deaths of military members. It's been reported that he canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery — where many U.S. soldiers are buried — in 2018, allegedly telling a staffer that he didn't want to go there because the cemetery was "filled with losers."
At another point in the trip, he also reportedly referred to nearly 2,000 marines who lost their lives as "suckers."
The Atlantic published the profile of General Milley.
