Retired Lt. Gen.: Trump’s Boastful Thanksgiving Message to Troops ‘Somewhat Insulting’
Retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling appeared on CNN Thursday to discuss President Donald Trump’s Thanksgiving call to U.S. service members — and called the president’s remarks “somewhat insulting” and “off-kilter.”
Hertling, a CNN military analyst, first noted that he was “thankful for the fact that [Trump] did address the soldiers,” but that “the message that I heard and some of the things he said would have not rung very well with me had I been a deployed soldier.”
In the call, made from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, the president dinged the previous administration for its efforts combatting ISIS, claiming that the U.S. is now “winning” against the terror group “because I’m letting you do your job.”
“We have been winning,” Hertling contented on CNN. “You’re talking to soldiers and military personnel around the world who have been in this fight for 17 years and to suddenly be told they’re winning now when they weren’t winning before is somewhat insulting, first of all.”
Trump also boasted of the strong U.S. economy in his call to the deployed troops.
On that, Hertling said “the comments about the economy and where the economy is growing — deployed service members don’t want to hear about that.”
Hertling said service members just want to hear “thanks.”
“So again, trying to be positive, I’m glad the president at least took some time to say thank you to the troops around the world, and he’s going to a Coast Guard station today, but the rest of the message may have been a little off-kilter,” Hertling concluded.
Watch above, via CNN.
[image via screengrab]
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