Donald Trump has used a traditional televised Thanksgiving conference call to US service members around the world to strike a “nakedly political tone”, a move that is a “striking break from the norms of presidential behaviour”, according to CNN.
The Thanksgiving Day phone call from the US president is traditionally used to bolster the morale of troops and other service members who are serving overseas during the holiday period.
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Retired Rear Admiral John Kirby told CNN: “The President’s conduct on that call, the manner in which he politicised it, demonstrated an utter and complete disregard for what military service means.”
On two occasions during the televised call, “perplexed officers on the other end of the phone seemed to disagree with [Trump’s] conclusions” as he debated the benefits of steam versus electromagnetic catapults on aircraft carriers, and US trade practices, the Washington Post reports.
When asked by the media following the phone call what he was thankful for – a question traditionally used as a prompt for the president to thank US service members in harm’s way – Trump cited his own “great family”, and then himself.
“I made a tremendous difference in this country,” Trump said. “This country is so much stronger now than it was when I took office and you wouldn’t believe it and when you see it, we’ve gotten so much stronger people don’t even believe it.”
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