US Veteran Slams Ex-President Donald Trump for Learning About WW II Just ‘The Other Day'

Former President Donald Trump's recent comments about World War II have raised eyebrows. At a rally in Savannah, Georgia, Trump spoke about the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. His words revealed a surprising lack of knowledge about one of history's most significant events. Trump said, "Biden says, 'We will not leave until we win.' What happens if they win? That's what they do, is they fight wars. As somebody told me the other day, they beat Hitler, they beat Napoleon. That's what they do. They fight, and it's not pleasant."

For many, the statement showed that Trump only recently learned about World War II and Russia's role in it. Many found this shocking, given his former position as Commander in Chief. Alexander Vindman, a retired lieutenant colonel and former National Security Council official, expressed disbelief at Trump's comments. "First, I have to address this commentary," Vindman said. "I mean, just the other day somebody told him about World War II? I mean, how preposterous is this? It is embarrassing that a former president would say, even use that kind of language, that he just learned about World War II," as per Independent. 

Vindman, who testified during Trump's first impeachment, didn't hold back his criticism and pointed out the inaccuracies in Trump's understanding of history. He noted that the Soviet Union's success in World War II was largely due to support from Western allies and the massive casualties they suffered.

Nonetheless, this is hardly the first time Trump has made bizarre statements. Trump described the Civil War battle misleadingly in his April rally in Pennsylvania. "Gettysburg, what an unbelievable battle that was. The Battle of Gettysburg," Trump said. "What an unbelievable ― I mean, it was so much and so interesting, and so vicious and horrible, and so beautiful in so many different ways."

The former president went on to misquote Confederate General, Robert E. Lee, attributing him a pirate-like accent, "Never fight uphill, me boys, never fight uphill." This incident adds to a long list of historical inaccuracies and misstatements that have plagued the former president throughout his political career. As such, many historians and political observers have raised concerns about the depth of Trump's historical understanding.

"He doesn't see any need to learn from anybody else in history or contemporaneously," said Peter Wehner, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush. Wehner continued, "There obviously have been people with healthy egos who have been president – you don't become president unless you have one – but there's never been anybody who's been as staggeringly ignorant of policy and history."

This stark assessment isn't an isolated opinion. Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian, described Trump as 'history illiterate.' Brinkley opined, "He's proud, he tells people that he doesn't read books, and it's been showing by the outlandish conspiracy theories he peddles in and misstatements that seem to almost pour out of him about the past," as per CNN.