On August 4, 2026, Trump posted an AI-generated image to Truth Social showing himself as a four-star general in a uniform he never wore, his chest covered in dozens of service ribbons and a medal resembling the Medal of Honor, standing on a battlefield alongside Generals George S. Patton and Douglas MacArthur. Snopes confirmed the post appeared on his account; its only text was “Patton, Trump, MacArthur.” The White House did not answer Snopes's questions about what the post was meant to convey.
The image rendered Patton and MacArthur as two-star generals, though Patton held four stars and MacArthur five, so the composition shows Trump outranking two of the most storied commanders in American history. Trump never served in the military and never held a military rank; as Snopes noted, the title of commander in chief is civilian and carries no general's stars. During the Vietnam War he received four deferments for college and a fifth for bone spurs in his heels.
Critics called it stolen valor. Adam Kinzinger, in a post on X embedded by HuffPost, wrote: “Stolen valor from Mr. Bone Spurs. An insult to every man and woman who has worn the uniform.” The image follows a pattern of Trump musing aloud about military honors he did not earn, including a February 2026 Georgia rally where he said, “I flew to Iraq and was extremely brave. In fact, so brave I wanted to give myself the Congressional Medal of Honor” (see Trump Says He Deserves the Congressional Medal of Honor for Visiting Iraq: 'I Was Extremely Brave').
Correction (October 2, 2026): The entry said the image was posted on August 4-5, 2026. Snopes and The Daily Beast date the post to August 4. The entry also attributed the “Mr. Bone Spurs” reaction only to an unnamed critic; HuffPost's embed shows it was posted by Adam Kinzinger.