MSNBC's Joe Scarborough slams Trump for brazenly 'lying' to 'American heroes'


President Trump couldn't even get a visit to the troops right, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough says.
On Wednesday, Trump made his first active war zone visit to surprise troops in Iraq. The trip is worth commending — except the part where Trump brought up the border wall fight to push his "unpopular domestic agenda" on "American heroes," Scarborough said on Morning Joe Thursday morning.
Scarborough went on to compare Trump to Winston Churchill and former GOP presidents, saying they never tore down political opponents on war zone visits. Scarborough then mentioned another gaffe: how Trump falsely claimed he fought Democrats to push a 10 percent pay raise for troops. "The very people who would know that [Trump] was lying about their pay raise would be the troops themselves," Scarborough incredulously added.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But "worse" than those "lies" are Trump's "dangerous policies" that could force Americans to fight terrorists back at home, Scarborough said. "U.S. leaders once stood up to bullying threats from tyrannical thugs from Turkey or from Russia," Scarborough said. But Trump, he added, "caved like a quivering coward" amid pressure from Turkey to end America's campaign in Syria. Trump also listened to Russia in choosing to go soft on Saudi Arabia, Scarborough said, adding that it all puts "all Americans in greater danger."
Watch the whole scathing segment below. Kathryn Krawczyk
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Today's political cartoons - May 10, 2025
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, and more
-
5 streetwise cartoons about defunding PBS
Cartoons Artists take on immigrant puppets, defense spending, and more
-
Dark chocolate macadamia cookies recipe
The Week Recommends These one-bowl cookies will melt in your mouth
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitution
speed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment