Did donald trump berate vietnam veterins by saying the were stupid because they did no know how to get out of it ?
Executive summary
There is no definitive, on-the-record quote showing Donald Trump explicitly saying to Vietnam veterans “you were stupid because you didn’t know how to get out of it”; however, multiple reputable reports over several years have attributed deeply disparaging remarks about veterans and the Vietnam War to him, based largely on anonymous sources and later denials from his camp, leaving the precise phrasing and provenance in dispute [1] [2] [3].
1. The allegation and where it comes from
The most prominent claims that Trump disparaged veterans originate from investigative pieces and anonymous accounts—most notably reporting collected for a 2020 Atlantic article that quoted aides and officials saying Trump called veterans “suckers” and labeled World War I dead “losers,” and that he described the Vietnam War as “a stupid war” or said “Vietnam would have been a waste of time for me,” comments that have been widely circulated and cited since [1] [2].
2. Corroboration, denials and fact‑checking
Those Atlantic accounts prompted confirmations of tone from some on‑the‑record officials (reported by outlets such as Newsweek) but were met by firm denials from Trump’s camp and were judged by independent fact‑checkers to lack a fully verifiable, firsthand source for the most inflammatory one‑liners; Snopes concluded that absent a direct witness or recording, some viral quotes cannot be confirmed [2] [1]. Congressional and veterans’ leaders reacted to those reports as if the comments were real, producing political blowback even though the White House has disputed specific attributions [4] [5].
3. Recent controversy is related but not identical
The latest wave of outrage that prompted international rebukes—comments about NATO and British troops in Afghanistan “staying a little off the front lines”—is separate from the Vietnam‑era quotes but reignited scrutiny of Trump’s past draft deferments and past alleged remarks about veterans, creating a broader context in which earlier anonymous allegations resurfaced and were cited by critics in the UK and US [6] [7] [8].
4. What the record does show about Trump’s attitude and history
Public record shows Trump received multiple draft deferments during the Vietnam era, including for academic reasons and a reported bone‑spurs diagnosis, a fact opponents and some journalists point to when assessing the plausibility and motive behind his alleged disparagements of veterans; that biographical context is undisputed in reporting [7] [8]. In parallel, a pattern of publicly documented insults toward specific veterans—most famously John McCain—exists and is well documented in multiple outlets, reinforcing why anonymous allegations about other such comments gained traction [2] [9].
5. How to read competing incentives and agendas
Reporting that relies on anonymous officials—especially about a polarizing figure—carries dual risks: it can reveal wrongdoing that sources fear to go on record about, but it also invites skepticism from those who view such leaks as politically motivated; outlets citing veterans’ groups and political leaders emphasize the moral harm of the alleged remarks, while Trump’s defenders frame denials and point to the lack of a smoking‑gun recording to argue the claims are exaggerated or false [3] [1] [4].
6. Bottom line answer
Based on the available reporting, it cannot be stated as a documented fact that Donald Trump directly told Vietnam veterans they were “stupid because they didn’t know how to get out of it”; what is documented is a mix of high‑profile anonymous allegations that he used demeaning language about veterans and wars, on‑record instances of disparaging remarks toward some veterans, denials from his team, and independent fact‑checkers noting incomplete corroboration for particular quotes—so the core allegation remains disputed rather than definitively proven [1] [2] [3].