Trump sparks Labor Day row over alleged video of ‘not saluting’ Marines outside helicopter; ‘something is terribly off’
President Donald Trump sparked a row on Labor Day with alleged videos going viral claiming the Republican did not salute Marines outside his helicopter.
The clips were shared by accounts critical of the president and also alleged that Trump had ‘snapped’ at the pilot.
“Trump steps off Marine One after raging against Canada, looking CHAOTIC and FRIED. He seems to snap at the pilot, forgets the traditional salute to the marines right in front of him, fumbles his jacket, and walks like a zombie. Something is terribly off. Damn,” the page noted. HT.com could not verify the authenticity of this video.
Trump’s viral video sparks backlash
Another person remarked “Heres video of Trump stepping off Marine 1 and NOT SALUTING A SINGLE MILITARY MEMBER! This is from NOW, TODAY!!! And this is the CURRENT PRESIDENT. He hates all of the military!”.
Yet another person said “He was in such a mood he didn’t even salute the Marines as he disembarked. I would NOT like to be in that hot seat.”
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It is traditional for US Presidents to salute the military personnel they encounter while boarding the Marine One helicopter. This tradition is widely understood to have been started by former president Ronald Reagan in 1981, as per CNN.
Notably, in 2014, when Barack Obama was the president, he’d drawn criticism for saluting a Marine standing guard, while holding a coffee cup in his hand. “Wait – did President Obama just salute the Marines with a LATTE in his hand?!,” the National Republican Congressional Committee had posted on X at the time. Thus, Trump’s alleged behavior has come under heightened scrutiny from detractors.
Trump’s post about New Mexico, new USA map
President Trump’s alleged video comes amid a slew of posts he made on Truth Social. Many of these were AI generated posts.
In one, Trump appeared to signal he’d change the name of New Mexico to New America, sparking conversations online about presidential powers involved in renaming a state. In yet another post, Trump shared a map of the US, where Greenland, Canada and Mexico were all marked as US territories.
This picture too raised concerns online as Trump has spoken in the past about taking Greenland, citing defense reasons. The president has also recently been in the news after he sported a new hair color, with many wondering why he’d chosen to become a ‘brunette’.
