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President Trump
President Trump

Trump denies mocking US soldiers captured and killed in battle

President Donald Trump has denied accusations that he made disparaging remarks about US soldiers who were captured or killed in battle.

According to The Atlantic magazine, Mr Trump cancelled a visit to a US cemetery outside Paris in 2018 because he said it was "filled with losers".

The allegations have since been corroborated by two senior military officials in a story by AP news agency.

But in a tweet, the president denounced the claims as "made up fake news".

During a visit to France in 2018, Mr Trump cancelled a visit to the Aise-Marne American Cemetery, and at the time the White House blamed poor weather.

However four sources told The Atlantic he rejected the idea of visiting because the rain would dishevel his hair, and he did not believe it important to honour America's war dead.

During the same trip, the president also allegedly referred to 1,800 US soldiers who died at Belleau Wood as "suckers". The battle helped to prevent a German advance on Paris during World War One and is venerated by the US Marine Corps.

Three sources told The Atlantic that, on at least two occasions, Mr Trump also called former President George HW Bush a "loser" for being shot down by the Japanese while serving as a Navy pilot during World War Two.

Mr Trump has been criticised in the past for his comments on military veterans. In 2015 he questioned the heroism of Republican Senator John McCain, who was captured during the Vietnam War.

"I like people who weren't captured," he said during an interview.

Mr Trump received five deferments from a military draft during the Vietnam War - four for academic reasons and one for bone spurs, a calcium build-up in the heels.

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