President Donald Trump raised more than a few eyebrows during his first visit as president to Walter Reed National Medical Center on Saturday when he awarded the Purple Heart to Army Sergeant First Class Alvaro Barrientos.
"When I heard about this, I wanted to do it myself," Trump told Barrientos as he placed the Purple Heart on the soldier's lapel. "Congratulations … tremendous."
The medal is given to service members who were wounded or killed in battle.
Many on social media immediately criticized the president’s choice of words to the wounded soldier whose leg had to be amputated after he survived an attack in Afghanistan’s Helmland province.
Tweet Embed: https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/855867509966286849 Oh...dear. Really, believe me, no one seeks a Purple Heart.
Truly. https://t.co/HXbnVy2S2qTweet Embed: https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/855848801512435713 Hey military, y'all would Eat. A. Brother. Alive. If they did this. Whatcha gonna say bout Trump? Hope his staff learns him up right quick. https://t.co/V9z9PVcTzQTweet Embed: https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/855894441134927872 Congratulations? Like the Purple Heart is a prize? Trump is an idiot. Most of us always knew this. https://t.co/vf3g4AOA7mTweet Embed: https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/855888390553837574 @louwho27 It's rather like if Trump signed a condolence card to a widow "congratulations". Not everything we do to mark something is a congratulation.Tweet Embed: https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/855859085606092802 @barbarastarrcnn So inappropriate. You don't congratulate a soldier for being wounded. You thank them for their service, dedication and sacrifice.
This isn’t the first time the president has been criticized for remarks he made about the Purple Heart. During the campaign, a veteran gave the then-nominee his Purple heart.
"I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier," Trump said at the time.
Modders are trying their hardest to add an NVMe SSD to the Switch 2, which is both impressive and something I'm not going to do
The US Air Force wants to test blowing up Cybertrucks because 'it is likely the type of vehicles used by the enemy may transition to Tesla Cyber trucks'
New study shows that Gen Z is spending way less money on videogames than older gamers
Steam for Chromebooks is getting axed in 2026 instead of exiting its 4-year beta
