Have independent fact-checkers confirmed when and where Trump said 'suckers' and 'losers'?
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Executive summary
Independent fact‑checking organizations and mainstream news outlets have not produced an audio or video recording proving former President Donald Trump actually uttered the words “suckers” and “losers”; instead, their conclusions rest on reporting first published by The Atlantic in 2020, later public corroboration by former White House chief of staff John Kelly and reporting that corroborated elements of the Atlantic account — while Trump, his aides and campaign spokespeople have repeatedly denied the remarks and offered alternate explanations for the canceled cemetery visit [1] [2] [3] [4]. Major fact‑checkers treat the Atlantic’s multi‑source article and Kelly’s subsequent statements as strong but not incontrovertible evidence, and they flag both denials and manipulated media that have circulated around the claim [5] [1] [6].
1. What the independent fact‑checks actually say
Organizations such as FactCheck.org, The New York Times and Reuters have analyzed the claim and the primary public evidence: The Atlantic’s 2020 article that cited multiple unnamed firsthand sources and later public statements from John Kelly that appeared to confirm parts of that article; those outlets treat the combination of the Atlantic’s reporting and Kelly’s confirmation as credible reporting that Trump used disparaging language about U.S. service members, but they stop short of saying a contemporaneous, independently verifiable recording has been produced [1] [5] [2].
2. The Atlantic’s original sourcing and independent corroboration
The Atlantic’s story relied on multiple anonymous sources describing conversations and incidents from 2018, including a canceled visit to the Aisne‑Marne American Cemetery in France and remarks about Marines at Belleau Wood; independent reporting by AP and other outlets later confirmed many of the underlying events and some details of the trip, giving the Atlantic account corroborative weight even though direct audio was not produced [1] [3] [7].
3. John Kelly’s public confirmation and why it matters
John Kelly, Trump’s former chief of staff and a four‑star Marine general, issued statements affirming that Trump had disparaged service members as “suckers” and “losers,” and media outlets — including NBC News and Axios — treated Kelly’s account as an authoritative confirmation because he was present on the trip and has direct knowledge; fact‑checkers cite Kelly as a key piece of corroboration that strengthens the Atlantic reporting [2] [8] [1].
4. Denials, alternative explanations and the campaign’s agenda
The Trump campaign and former White House officials have emphatically denied the phrasing, provided alternate explanations (for example, that bad weather grounded helicopters and was the reason for the canceled cemetery visit), and labeled the Atlantic report and subsequent use of it as politically motivated or a “hoax”; those denials are repeatedly noted by fact‑checkers and news organizations, which flag the political incentives for both sides to shape the narrative [4] [9].
5. Manipulated media and the limits of available evidence
Independent fact‑checkers have also warned about altered video and audio clips circulating online that claim to show Trump using the words — Reuters, for example, debunked an altered Fox News clip — underscoring that even where material appears to verify a claim, provenance and authenticity must be independently established [6]. No major outlet has published an unaltered on‑the‑record audio or video that captures Trump uttering “suckers” and “losers” in the incidents described.
6. Bottom line and journalistic posture
The most accurate summary, as reflected by multiple independent fact‑checks and mainstream outlets, is that credible reporting (The Atlantic’s multi‑source story) plus on‑the‑record confirmation from John Kelly amount to strong journalistic evidence that Trump used those words in private in 2018, but independent fact‑checkers have not produced a contemporaneous recording that conclusively proves the exact phrasing and timing beyond dispute; denials and alternative accounts from Trump allies remain part of the public record and have been highlighted by outlets that evaluated the claim [1] [2] [4].