In a 1997 interview with “The Howard Stern Show“, Trump said. “It’s unbelievable, I can’t believe it. I’ve been so lucky in this whole world, it’s a dangerous world out there. It’s kind of like Vietnam. It’s my personal Vietnam. I feel like a great and very brave soldier.”
Trump also joked that his dating exploits Congressional Medal of Honora highly respected military award for bravery in combat. This comparison sparked considerable backlash because it trivialized the experiences of Vietnam War veterans.
The 1997 interview was not an isolated incident. In an appearance on the same show in 1993, Trump boasted about his promiscuous lifestyle during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, saying that men who had not served in Vietnam should not feel guilty because “dating was just as dangerous at that time.”
Trump himself did not serve in the Vietnam War, having been deducted from the draft five times – four times while in college and once because of bone spurs in his feet. His campaign later said the bone spur was minor and temporary.
In December 2015, however, while campaigning for the presidency, Trump expressed his guilt over not completing his military service and mentioned that his help in building a Vietnam War memorial in New York was his way of making amends.