• 3 September 2020 TheAtlantic.com writer Jeffrey Goldberg stated that "four people with firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day" (Goldberg did not provide any names) that "Trump rejected the idea of the visit because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain, and because he did not believe it important to honor American war dead", and described the two-sentence quote above as part of "a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit".
• Goldberg also stated that during the trip (in a separate conversation) that Trump used the term "suckers" to collectively describe the 1800+ marines who died at Belleau Wood, but did not provide any surrounding words (the purported quote was the only word in quotation marks)
• the sentence about "good guys" Goldberg says was stated towards aides (not senior staff members)
• Goldberg did state a number regarding witness count of the other two statements, only for the "losers" one
• 4 September 2020 Trump responded to Goldberg's piece "It’s a total lie. It’s fake news".
• Trump also tweeted that day: "The Atlantic Magazine is dying, like most magazines, so they make up a fake story in order to gain some relevance. Story already refuted, but this is what we are up against."
• press secretary Kayleigh McEnany also on September 4th stated "The story in the Atlantic has been categorically debunked by eyewitnesses and contemporaneous documents", quoting two service members:
• ""I was with the president the morning after the scheduled visit. He was extremely disappointed that arrangements could not be made to get him to the site and that the trip had been cancelled. I have worked with the president for his entire administration .. I have never heard him utter a disparaging remark of any kind about our troops." - Derek Lyons
• "there was a bad weather called in France and that the helicopters were unable to safely make the flight. Overall, the president's support and respect for our American troops past and present is unquestionable" - Dan Walsh
• following Goldberg's piece that same day, James LaPorta wrote on AP "A senior Defense Department official with firsthand knowledge of events and a senior U.S. Marine Corps officer who was told about Trump’s comments confirmed some of the remarks to The Associated Press, including the 2018 cemetery comments."
Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers .. suckers .. Who were the good guys in this war?
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers .. suckers .. Who were the good guys in this war?" in the context of "Saturday 10 November 2018 two hours before a scheduled 30-minute helicopter ride from Paris to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, the visit was cancelled with White House stating a rainy forecast made it too dangerous
• 3 September 2020 TheAtlantic.com writer Jeffrey Goldberg stated that "four people with firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day" (Goldberg did not provide any names) that "Trump rejected the idea of the visit because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain, and because he did not believe it important to honor American war dead", and described the two-sentence quote above as part of "a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit".
• Goldberg also stated that during the trip (in a separate conversation) that Trump used the term "suckers" to collectively describe the 1800+ marines who died at Belleau Wood, but did not provide any surrounding words (the purported quote was the only word in quotation marks)
• the sentence about "good guys" Goldberg says was stated towards aides (not senior staff members)
• Goldberg did state a number regarding witness count of the other two statements, only for the "losers" one
• 4 September 2020 Trump responded to Goldberg's piece "It’s a total lie. It’s fake news".
• Trump also tweeted that day: "The Atlantic Magazine is dying, like most magazines, so they make up a fake story in order to gain some relevance. Story already refuted, but this is what we are up against."
• press secretary Kayleigh McEnany also on September 4th stated "The story in the Atlantic has been categorically debunked by eyewitnesses and contemporaneous documents", quoting two service members:
• ""I was with the president the morning after the scheduled visit. He was extremely disappointed that arrangements could not be made to get him to the site and that the trip had been cancelled. I have worked with the president for his entire administration .. I have never heard him utter a disparaging remark of any kind about our troops." - Derek Lyons
• "there was a bad weather called in France and that the helicopters were unable to safely make the flight. Overall, the president's support and respect for our American troops past and present is unquestionable" - Dan Walsh
• following Goldberg's piece that same day, James LaPorta wrote on AP "A senior Defense Department official with firsthand knowledge of events and a senior U.S. Marine Corps officer who was told about Trump’s comments confirmed some of the remarks to The Associated Press, including the 2018 cemetery comments."" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
About Donald Trump