Reactions were mounting on Wednesday after President Donald Trump made a questionable remark about slain military service members — in front of one of the Gold Star families.
Trump was speaking at Wheeler High School in Marietta, Georgia, when he spoke about the men and women killed in the Iran war. He had just arrived at the event after attending a dignified transfer of the four service members who died in recent days at Dover Air Force Base, where he said he invited the family of 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, to join him on Air Force One to fly back to Georgia and attend the event with him. Feehan was one of the three service members who died after an Iran missile attack at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on July 17.
"When I go to Dover I read charts on all of the young people, and some are unbelievable," Trump said. "Some, they've got a couple of little bad things put in. This is a son who is like a flawless, perfect person. His sheet read so beautifully."
Critics on social media responded to the comments.
"Is he trolling dead American soldiers?" Journalist and conspiracy theory expert Mike Rothschild wrote on X.
"He's talking about the transfer of remains of US soldiers killed in his illegal war," the Bluesky political account newmexicanextexan wrote.
" Trump's chart reads: Draft Dodger," attorney and writer David Lurie wrote on Bluesky.
"Imagine being the parent of one of these dead soldiers," political commentator account The Volatile Mermaid wrote on Bluesky.
Is he trolling dead American soldiers? https://t.co/5fenf1mUf1
— Mike (not a) Rothschild (@rothschildmd) July 22, 2026