President Trump is reportedly considering visiting troops stationed in a combat zone for the first time in office.
Unnamed former and current advisers told The Washington Post that Mr. Trump has been hesitant to visit troops in Afghanistan and Iraq because he doesn’t want to connect himself with wars he considers “a total shame.”
He also listed long flights and security concerns as additional reasons he was hesitant to go, The Post reported.
Mr. Trump told Fox News’ Chris Wallace when asked about visiting overseas troops that plans were being made.
“We don’t want to talk about it because of security reasons and everything else,” Mr. Trump said.
The attention to troops comes as Mr. Trump criticized retired Adm. William McRaven, a war hero, in that same Fox News interview Sunday.
Mr. McRaven is a former Navy SEAL and that led the operation that killed Osama Bin Laden in 2011.
In the interview, Mr. Trump dismissed Mr. McRaven’s service and criticized him for being a “Hillary Clinton backer and an Obama backer.”
“Frankly, wouldn’t it be nice if we got Osama bin Laden a lot sooner than that?” Mr. Trump said.
His comment sparked a surge of criticism from both sides of the aisle and former military personnel.
Mr. Trump has also come under fire for not visiting a World War I memorial service in France with other world leaders and not visiting Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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