President Donald Trump received a "Champion of Honor" award from the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation on Thursday, recognizing what the organization described as his support for preserving the legacy of Medal of Honor recipients and promoting national awareness of the nation's highest military award for valor. During a ceremony in Arlington, Texas, attended by foundation officials and supporters, Trump was praised for backing efforts to honor recipients and for his support of the Herschel "Woody" Williams National Medal of Honor Monument Location Act, which seeks to establish a permanent monument on the National Mall in Washington. The foundation said the award was presented in appreciation of Trump's commitment to ensuring that Medal of Honor recipients' stories are preserved and celebrated for future generations.
During the ceremony on Thursday, Trump repeated a previous suggestion that he would like to award himself the Medal of Honor. "I would give it to myself, I have no problem, but I'm not allowed to," he said after noting that 15 of the 16 living recipients were in attendance. "I would give it to myself, so it would make it instead of 15, we'd have 16." He then added: "I'm only kidding.
Actually, I'm not kidding." While the president presents the Medal of Honor on behalf of Congress, federal law limits the award to members of the U.S. armed forces who distinguish themselves through extraordinary acts of valor in combat. Trump, who did not serve in the military, does not meet the statutory eligibility requirements. The comments echoed remarks Trump made in February, when he said that his 2018 trip to Iraq was so courageous that he considered awarding himself the Medal of Honor and said he might "test the law" someday.
Additionally, at a campaign event in August 2024 in New Jersey, Trump said the Presidential Medal of Freedom is a "better" award than the Medal of Honor. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded to civilians "who have made exceptional contributions to the security or national interests of America, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors." "It's the equivalent of the congressional Medal of Honor," Trump said of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. "But the civilian version, it's actually much better because everyone that gets the Congressional Medal of Honor.
They're either in very bad shape because they've been hit so many times by bullets or they're dead." The Veterans of Foreign Wars group blasted Trump for his comments, calling them "asinine." This is a breaking news article. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Samantha Beech and Dave Siminoff.
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