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US President Donald Trump at a press conference
Photo: Chris Kleponis / imago images / ZUMA Wire
US President Donald Trump has demanded the dismissal of a correspondent for Fox News after media reports about alleged derogatory remarks about fallen US soldiers.
Journalist Jennifer Griffin should be "fired" for reporting, Trump urged on Twitter.
You have never asked the White House for an opinion, criticized Trump.
Fox News is "lost" to him.
The US magazine "The Atlantic" reported on Thursday that during a trip to France in November 2018, Trump described US soldiers who had fallen in World War I as "losers" and "idiots".
According to the "Atlantic" article, Trump had refused a planned visit to the US military cemetery Aisne-Marne near Paris on the France trip with the words: "Why should I visit this cemetery? It is full of losers."
In another conversation on the same trip, Trump described the more than 1,800 US soldiers buried in the cemetery as "idiots", reported "The Atlantic".
Accordingly, there are four witnesses for Trump's statements.
The US delegation officially stated at the time that Trump could not visit the cemetery because his helicopter could not take off due to bad weather.
Trump is said to have refused to visit the cemetery
Fox News journalist Griffin claims to have received confirmation of Trump's statements.
Two former government officials had confirmed that Trump had refused to visit the cemetery "to honor American war dead."
The weather did not play a role.
One of Griffin's sources also confirmed that Trump had called US soldiers "idiots" - albeit in a different context.
"When the president spoke about the Vietnam War, he said, 'It was a stupid war. Everyone who went was a fool," Trump said, according to the journalist.
Trump denies the allegations.
On Friday, the Republican, who wants to be re-elected for a second term in November, said it was a "fake story".
For him, fallen soldiers are "absolute heroes".
US President Melania Trump also defended her husband.
The allegations were "not true," said the first lady on Twitter.
"These are very dangerous times when anonymous sources are believed more than anything else and nobody knows their motivation. This is not journalism - this is activism."
Trump's relationship with the country's armed forces is complicated.
The president emphasizes again and again that he has strengthened the military and provided it with more money.
However, in recent years there have been repeated differences of opinion with the military leadership and open disputes with respected ex-generals.
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