Controversial Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump may spend a lot of time proclaiming that he supports the brave men and women who have fought for our country’s freedom, but his actions reveal the hypocrisy of his statements. Many veterans advocacy groups across the country are starting to speak out against the way Trump uses veterans as his political props. They have recently released a statement making it clear that the veterans of the United States do not stand with Donald Trump.
One example the veterans group brings up is Trump’s alleged charity event. In a publicity stunt, Trump made a big deal about how he was missing a GOP debate to host a charity event for veterans that would raise money to help veterans. Though Trump’s campaign claimed that it raised six million dollars for the veterans while the rest of the GOP candidates were wasting time arguing with each other, over half of the money has gone missing. The veterans make it clear that “this is part of a long pattern of the real Donald J. Trump.” Other past behavior where he has taken advantage of veterans include his attempts to get rid of disabled veterans who were legally allowed to be street vendors because Trump felt that the disabled veterans were “seriously downgrading the area.”
The veterans’ statement against Trump explains that they are not just against Trump because he has made disparaging comments and taken advantage of veterans in the past. They are concerned that Trump will “recklessly place our troops in harm’s way [and] dramatically increase the risk to our service members serving in operations overseas. Trump’s policies are detrimental to the young men and women who volunteer to serve this country.” Unfortunately, recent comments by Trump only confirm the veterans’ fears.
Trump’s recent speech about his supposed foreign policy shows that he would be completely incompetent at international relations. His confusing and contradicting foreign policy would somehow include staying out of foreign conflicts while invading ISIS territory to rescue Christian prisoners. Trump also criticizes the current government for not supporting our allies, but he wants to stop aiding them with military. In the next breath, Trump complains about our nation’s underfunded military while also saying that the national debt needs to be reduced by cutting spending.
Both Republican and Democrat national security advisors agree that Trump’s inconsistent and illogical foreign policy would be bad for the United States. Trump may claim that he supports the troops, but his proposed actions would cause many more military conflicts that would harm United States citizens. HIs inability to successfully manage international relations and create a consistent foreign policy could end up starting wars that would create even more problems for veterans than Trump’s apparent pocketing of funds from veterans charity events.
The statement condemning Trump was signed by many veterans, including a former senator, a few national congressman, several state representatives, and many decorated officers in the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. It publicly shows that the veterans of the United States are not supporting Trump’s campaign, regardless of what he may claim. The veterans are not fooled by his suggestions that he will treat them well if he comes to office. Instead, they conclude that “he can’t be trusted, by our veterans or anyone else. It’s time for Donald Trump to stop using vets as political props.”