Mike Pompeo responds to report Trump insulted military: 'I never heard him say it'

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Pompeo: I never heard the president speak ill of service members

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responds to report President Trump called fallen soldiers 'losers' and 'suckers.'

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he has “never heard” President Trump refer to members of the military as “suckers and losers.”

“I’ve been with this president coming on four years. I’ve never heard the president use the language" described in a report in The Atlantic, Pompeo told “Fox & Friends” on Friday. "I’ve never seen that. Indeed, just the contrary."

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The Atlantic's report said Trump made the comments when canceling a trip to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetary near Paris in 2018, an event that was widely reported at the time, with media outlets comparing the president's decision to that of other world leaders who attended.

Trump "blamed rain for the last-minute decision, saying that 'the helicopter couldn’t fly' and that the Secret Service wouldn’t drive him there," The Atlantic reported, asserting that neither claim was true. "Trump rejected the idea of the visit because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain, and because he did not believe it important to honor American war dead, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day. In a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, Trump said, 'Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.'"

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Pompeo said Trump has always had the “deepest respect” for the military.

“I’m a veteran too. I care deeply about these young men and women. I watched the president honor them in every situation that I have been in with him,” Pompeo said.