President Donald Trump shocked and disgusted onlookers by glorifying war in a Veterans' Day speech at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The president marked the occasion Tuesday afternoon at Arlington National Cemetery, where he praised his Cabinet secretaries in attendance, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who prefers to use the historical honorific of the Department of War for the office, used before it was changed as part of a post-World War II reorganization of the military and intelligence services.
"We'reopening up our country, shouldhave never been closed," Trump said. "I wantto thank [Veterans Administration] Secretary Doug Collins,who's outstanding, just done afantastic job for the veterans.We have a 92 percent approval rating.We took that up from 38 percent from acertain previous administrationthat we won't mention. Also,Secretary of War, we like thesound of that better than theother way, Secretary Pete Hegseth.Pete, thank you very much. Thankyou Pete."
The president's remark sparked outrage on social media.
"This is a day that literally celebrates the end of war," said journalist Timothy Burke.
"I come from a long family history of veterans and while they were proud to serve their country, they felt no pride in what they saw or what they had to do," posted freelance artist Luke Russell. "May this entire administration burn in the eternal flames of Hell."
"I, for one, am shocked - <shocked> - that the guy who couldn't be bothered to fully participate in the 2018 WWI Armistice centennial because of rain is desecrating Veterans Day," added Mark Copelovitch, a political science professor the University of Wisconsin.
"After a term and a half, he still doesn't know the difference between Veteran's Day and Memorial Day," noted Bluesky user Randy Cain. "Just a hint, Mr. President, it's not Memorial Day."
"Only Donald Trump could assert, in all seriousness, that the most important factor in a superpower's military might is ... branding," opined historian Kevin Kruse.
"Fun fact, Hegseth is still just officially titled the Defense Secretary," added Bluesky user Jase. "The title Secretary of War is literally just a nickname they reverted to just to sound tough."