President Donald Trump, who famously got out of the draft five times, shared an fake image depicting himself as a top military general — decked out in service ribbons and some of the nation’s highest military honors.
The rendering pictured Trump, 80, alongside generals George S. Patton and Douglas MacArthur, two of the country’s most famous combat commanders and figures of World War II, in front of a fiery battleground.
The president’s fantastical pipe dream places him above Patton and MacArthur in military ranking, showing him with four stars while the real war heroes only have two. In actuality, Patton was a four-star general while MacArthur was one of only five Americans to reach the ranking of five-star general.
The image, which Trump shared on Truth Social Tuesday, also appeared to show him wearing what appears to be a Medal of Honor — the highest U.S. military decoration, awarded by the president to recipients.
Trump’s delusion also showed him donning about a dozen military service ribbons — or small fabric displays recognizing major accomplishments from a service member’s career.
While the president may crave the battlefield honor, it is without merit. While he attended the New York Military Academy as a teen in the early 1960s, Trump never served in the armed forces or held an official military rank.
Most men of his generation weren’t as lucky. The U.S. was involved militarily in Vietnam from about 1954 to 1975. Over 58,000 American service members were killed in the armed conflict.
Trump famously avoided the draft for the Vietnam War five times in the 1960s. He received four deferrals while attending college at Fordham University and while in business school at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
He received a fifth deferral following a disputed diagnosis of bone spurs in his heels.
The daughters of the podiatrist who gave the diagnosis claimed he did so as a favor to Trump’s father, Fred Trump, who owned the building in Queens where the doctor practiced.
They told The New York Times in 2018 that it was unclear if the doctor ever even examined the younger Trump.
Over the years, Trump has faced criticism over his lack of military service, including during his frequent attacks on the late Vietnam War hero and late U.S. senator John McCain — and after the Trump Organization released a line of military-inspired clothing.
It was revealed earlier this year that Trump even toyed with the idea of awarding himself the Medal of Honor for a visit to an Iraqi air base in 2018 — even though he did not enter combat while there.
“I flew to Iraq. I was extremely brave. So brave I wanted to give myself the Congressional Medal of Honor,” he said in February. “I said, I said to my people, am I allowed to give myself the Congressional Medal of Honor?...Some day I’m gonna try. I’m gonna test the law.”
He has also been accused of repeatedly referring to fallen soldiers as “losers” and “suckers.” Trump, however, denied those claims, which originated from a 2020 article in The Atlantic.
The president’s former roommate at the academy told the Daily Beast in June how schoolmates would mock Trump, calling him “Cadet Bonespurs,” over his medical deferment.
“He was an egomaniac when he was 16,” the former roommate, Art Davie, said. “He was a great flag waver for himself. .He wanted everyone to recognize he was the GOAT in everything he did out there.”