Trump made the comment while speaking at the National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas, on Sept. 10
Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- President Donald Trump joked that he would award himself the Congressional Medal of Honor during a Sept. 10 speech in Texas
- “I’m only kidding. Actually, I’m not kidding. I would like to,” Trump told the crowd
- The president has previously joked about giving himself and his sons the prestigious military decoration
President Donald Trump joked that he would award himself the Medal of Honor while speaking to a group that included living Medal of Honor recipients in Texas.
Trump, 80, made the remarks at the National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday, Sept. 10. He noted that 15 of the 65 living recipients of the Medal of Honor were in attendance.
“You know, I’ve never said this… I want for myself a Congressional Medal of Honor, and I’ve studied it,” Trump said. “I will give it to myself. I have no problem, but I’m not allowed to. Can you believe it? The one thing I’m not allowed to do. I would give myself [one], so it would make it instead of 15, would have 16, but I’m not allowed to do that.”
The president then acknowledged that his comments could make headlines, particularly because of his history of using sarcasm and humor during political remarks.
“Now, you know, the sad part about saying that to all of that — look at all that fake news back there — but the sad part is that they’ll now go and they’ll say, ‘Donald Trump wanted the Congressional Medal of Honor.’ They don’t say that I kid,” Trump said.
He continued by saying that politicians cannot easily use sarcasm without their comments being taken literally.
“One thing in the world of politics, you can’t be sarcastic, you can’t have any fun, you can’t do anything that you think is cute. So tonight, the story will be that ‘Donald Trump wants the Congressional Medal of Honor for himself.’ I’m only kidding. Actually, I’m not kidding. I would like to,” he added.
Credit: Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty
Trump has made similar remarks about receiving the military honor before.
On July 1, Trump joked about awarding the Medal of Honor to himself and two of his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, while speaking at the dedication of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, N.D.
During those remarks, Trump discussed Theodore Roosevelt and his son, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., as well as Gen. Douglas MacArthur and his father, Arthur MacArthur Jr. Trump noted that the father-and-son pairs were among the only such recipients of the nation’s highest military award.
Looking toward his sons, Trump joked that he could create another family of recipients.
“Now, as I see my two beautiful sons sitting there, I think I’m going to give one to myself, one to them, and we’ll have a threesome,” Trump said. He added that he would award one to his sons “for their genius at hunting” and said that he would receive one himself “for taking on Russia, Russia, Russia, or something.”
Trump then clarified that he was joking.
“No, I’m only kidding,” he said, before adding that he had “seriously thought about” his remarks. “This is dangerous to say, because the fake news is up there all over the place, and when I joke… I learned early on, don’t be sarcastic in politics.”
Credit: Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty
Earlier that day, Trump also spoke about giving himself the honor during a private ceremony at the library, where he donated Roosevelt’s Medal of Honor to its collection.
“There are very few people who have them. I want to give one to myself, but they tell me I’m not allowed to,” Trump said. “My son over here, both of them, I said, ‘Fellas, I’d love to give one of them to me. What have I done where I deserve it?’ And they couldn’t think of anything. So I’m not happy with them today.”
The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest military decoration for valor in combat, according to the official Medal of Honor website. The award is presented to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through acts of “gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty.”
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During Thursday’s remarks, Trump also compared the Medal of Honor with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which he described as its civilian counterpart.
“We have the civilian version, which is the Presidential Medal of Freedom. That’s, I don’t know, it’s a very, very powerful thing. But when I see the recipients of the Congressional Medal, those that are living, many are dead. They died in battle,” Trump said.
“The nice part about the Presidential Medal of [Freedom] is the people are in good health. In other words, they get it because they won at sports or they won at something, but they don’t have to get shot and they don’t have to go through the trauma that you people have gone through,” he added.
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