#Nearly 700 veterans defend Trump over refusal to visit French WWI cemetery

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President Donald Trump and Melania Trump arrive for the ceremony to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I in Paris in 2018.
Xinhua News Agency via Getty Ima

Nearly 700 veterans signed a letter in support of President Trump after several media outlets reported he had disparaged U.S. First World War soldiers on a state visit to France in 2018.

In the open letter, signed by 674 veterans, the writers denounce “recent baseless media attacks against President Trump from anonymous sources” and accuse Trump’s political opponents of concocting the story to “divide the nation and meddle in this election. The Sept. 4 letter, which featured a US flag on its letterhead, was obtained by Breitbart News.

The letter writers were referring to a recent article in The Atlantic, which quoted unnamed senior staff members who said Trump refused to go on a scheduled visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery outside Paris to visit the graves of American soldiers because he did not want to travel in the rain. According to the magazine, Trump said, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.”

Trump vigorously denied the comments.