As President Donald Trump sought to hold a spectacular military parade on the Fourth of July, the former president had a request that stunned his top military advisers: He didn’t want wounded veterans to be on display.
Trump had been inspired to hold a grand Independence Day parade in the summer of 2018 after attending the Bastille Day parade in France the year before. However, he reportedly lamented the presence of wounded soldiers in wheelchairs who had lost limbs in battle, requesting they not be present.
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“Look, I don’t want any wounded guys in the parade,” Trump said, according to an excerpt of the forthcoming book The Divider by journalists Susan Glasser and Peter Baker. “This doesn’t look good for me.”
The comment stunned the generals present for the meeting, worsening frustrations already brewing amid the administration, according to the book.
“Those are the heroes,” John Kelly, then-White House chief of staff, told Trump. “In our society, there’s only one group of people who are more heroic than they are — and they are buried over in Arlington.”
Top military generals advised against holding the parade due to high costs, and the event was ultimately delayed. However, Trump did end up hosting a “Salute to America” parade on the Fourth of July in 2019.
The former president’s comments that he didn’t want wounded soldiers present for the parade were previously reported by the Atlantic in September 2020. The White House denied those reports.
“President Trump holds the military in the highest regard,” a White House spokesperson said at the time. “He’s demonstrated his commitment to them at every turn: delivering on his promise to give our troops a much needed pay raise, increasing military spending, signing critical veterans reforms, and supporting military spouses. These nameless anecdotes have no basis in fact and are offensive fiction.”
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However, the corroborated version of events told in Glasser and Baker’s book offers an inside glimpse of the relationship between Trump and some of his top military officials, who became increasingly frustrated with the former president during his final days in office.
Several officials, including Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, considered resigning from the White House in the summer of 2020, accusing Trump of ensuing “great and irreparable harm” to the country.
The Divider, which describes behind-the-scenes details and unreported conversations that occurred inside the White House during Trump’s presidency, is scheduled to be released on Sept. 20.
