United States Ambassador to France Jamie McCourt said Monday President Trump never disparaged fallen American soldiers despite recent allegations.
McCourt was present the day Trump called off the visit to the cemetery at Belleau Wood due to inclement weather, she told Breitbart News in an interview.
In a bombshell report published by The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, last week, unnamed sources claimed the president called dead American service members “losers” and “suckers,” allegedly calling into question the importance of speaking at the cemetery in November 2018.
“Needless to say, I never spoke to The Atlantic, and I can’t imagine who would,” McCourt told Breitbart News.
“In my presence, POTUS has NEVER denigrated any member of the U.S. military or anyone in service to our country. And he certainly did not that day, either,” she added.
McCourt said the president was very disappointed he could not visit the cemetery at Belleau Wood, adding, “In fact, the next day, he attended and spoke at the ceremony in Suresnes in the pouring rain.”
Her account and defense of Trump amid The Atlantic article’s allegations come as numerous top officials have vouched for the president, denying any claims in the report are valid.
Last week, former national security adviser John Bolton said he never heard the president speak ill of fallen Americans.
Other officials such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Trump advisers Stephen Miller, Jordan Karem and Derek Lyons and several more have defended the president.
White House deputy chief of staff Zach Fuentes, a top confidant of former chief of staff John Kelly, denied The Atlantic report’s allegations to Breitbart on Monday.
“Honestly, do you think General Kelly would have stood by and let ANYONE call fallen Marines losers?” Fuentes asked.
Sources alleging the president’s words against veteran soldiers are entirely anonymous, granting no clear view about the validity of what these contacts claim to know.
On Monday after Fuentes came out in defense of him, Trump said, “I think that’s now number 15. These are people that were there. That’s the 15th person — Gen. [Keith] Kellogg, everybody that was there, knew what happened. So I was happy to see Zach came out and said it’s not true.”