The Republican president has previously referred to fallen American service personnel as “suckers” and “losers.” He has never served in the military, having in fact dodged the Vietnam War draft on five occasions. The last of those owed to a bone spur diagnosis. It’s a condition that usually affects elderly individuals. He was 22 at the time.
Trump has similarly threatened to invade U.S. allies Panama, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, and Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark, a fellow NATO member.
The MAGA president’s growing, campaign-promise-busting appetite for military engagement also comes amid his bitter disappointment at being passed over for last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, despite a concerted public and private push by his allies. It was previously awarded to his Democratic predecessor, President Barack Obama.
In a letter regarding that snub, Trump wrote to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in January that “considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace.”
The Norwegian government is not affiliated with the Nobel Committee, which decides independently to whom it will grant its awards. Trump’s claim to have stopped eight wars remains highly disputed.
Bone spurs are actually a VERY common Medical Discharge with Full Benefits from Boot Camp. My division alone had around 12% of the recruits develop bone spurs from marching with full rucksacks. This was the Navy, I can’t even imagine how bad it is in the Army and Marines. That being said, we know what causes it in young people. Excessive marching. I seriously doubt that Drumpf was even in marching band. (I was in marching band, and thought those marching drills were excessive, until I got to Boot Camp.)
It bring a common discharge reason was probably specifically why that diagnosis was used. As with most things, he didn’t learn enough about it to make the lie convincing, i.e. he’d have to show up to boot and actually do something for a bit in order to get them.