At a rally in Rome, Georgia on February 19, 2026, President Trump told supporters he had considered awarding himself the Congressional Medal of Honor for visiting US troops in Iraq in December 2018. “I decided to go to Iraq. I was extremely brave,” Trump said. “So brave in fact that I wanted to give myself the Congressional Medal of Honor.”
Trump continued, “I said to my people, am I allowed to give myself the Congressional Medal of Honor? And you know, I've given out so many to guys that are seriously brave. I mean, they come in and their arms are missing, their legs are missing. Their stories are so unbelievable. And I said that's a little stretch if I gave myself one.” He then added, “Someday I'm going to try. I'm going to test the law.”
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration in the United States, awarded exclusively to members of the armed forces who distinguish themselves through extraordinary acts of valor in combat at the risk of their own life. Trump never served in the military. He received five draft deferments during the Vietnam War, including one for “bone spurs” — a diagnosis that has been widely questioned. His 2018 Iraq visit was a standard presidential trip to a military base.
A prominent national veterans group called Trump's comments “asinine.” The contrast between Trump comparing himself to soldiers who lost limbs in combat and his own history of avoiding military service was not lost on critics.