On Saturday, Feb. 28, Donald Trump launched a war in a way no other American president has ever done before: He alerted the public to the start of combat operations by way of a prerecorded online video, released at 2:30 a.m. ET, while wearing a white baseball cap for reasons that went unexplained.
Seven days later at Dover Air Force Base, the incumbent president attended the dignified transfer of six fallen U.S. service members as they were returned home. While custom in this country is that people remove their hats under such circumstances, Trump nevertheless wore another white baseball cap and kept it on as caskets were carried from the plane.
Many noted that Trump could have — and should have — brought more dignity to the dignified transfer.
“This fool has ABSOLUTELY no sense of dignity or appreciation for the moment,” MS NOW’s Michael Steele noted via social media. The former Republican National Committee chairman added, “It is called the Dignified Transfer for a reason. Take your damn hat off!!”
(Those who watched the coverage on Fox News did not initially see the president with his cap on because the network instead showed footage from a previous dignified transfer in which he didn’t wear a hat. Fox later apologized.)
During remarks at his Doral Golf Club in Miami on Saturday at a summit with leaders from Latin American countries, Trump called the service members “great heroes,” continuing to talk about the fatalities in a clumsy way.
“Very sad situation to greet the families of the heroes coming home from Iran — coming home in a different manner than they thought they’d be coming home,” the president added.
If it seems like there’s a pattern taking shape, it’s not your imagination. The day after starting the war, Trump posted a second prerecorded video to social media (this time without a hat), in which he tried to comment on the deaths of U.S. service members.
“Sadly, there will likely be more,” Trump said. Appearing to break from the text on his teleprompter, he added, “Before it ends, that’s the way it is. Likely be more.”
A few days later, Time magazine asked the president whether Americans should be worried about possible retaliatory attacks from Iran on U.S. soil.
“I guess,” Trump replied.
In isolation, the president’s choice of headwear as fallen American troops returned from a war he started might seem unimportant, but it’s a piece of larger picture. What the public is seeing is a leader who appears to be approaching his responsibilities with an unmistakable mix of disrespect and a blasé attitude about developments that he should take with the kind of sobriety and solemnity he just can’t seem to muster.
