Ret. Lieutenant General calls Trump Thanksgiving remarks ‘insulting’

A retired lieutenant general said Thursday that President Trump’s comments to troops deployed overseas, which included remarks about the economy and military’s recent success, were “somewhat insulting.”

“First of all, I’m thankful for the fact that he did address the soldiers. But the message I heard and some of the things he said would not have rung very well with me had I been a deployed soldier,” CNN military analyst and retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling said.

Trump spoke from his Mar-a-Lago estate to troops deployed overseas via video teleconference. During the call, the president praised the military’s recent performance, and the state of the economy, echoing his comments on Twitter. {mosads}

“We’re really winning. We know how to win. But we have to let you win. They weren’t letting you win before,” Trump told the troops.

“We have been winning,” Hertling said on CNN. “You’re talking to soldiers and military personnel around the world who have been in this fight for 17 years, and to suddenly be told they’re winning now when they weren’t winning before is somewhat insulting.”

Hertling said troops likely don’t care about the economy or stock market, but just want to be thanked for their service.

“The comments about the economy and where the economy is growing, deployed soldiers don’t want to hear about that, they want to hear, ‘hey thanks,’” he said.

Trump later visited a Coast Guard station, where he told service members the Coast Guard’s brand has gone up thanks to its hurricane relief efforts in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.