WASHINGTON (AP) — President Trump is making up facts about a veterans' health care program in his latest dig at late Sen. John McCain. He says he's no fan of McCain, a Vietnam War veteran and tortured prisoner of war, faulting him for failing to pass a program that gave veterans the option to see a private doctor at public expense — though McCain did successfully sponsor such a law.
"He was never able to get Choice. I got Choice," Trump said Thursday to reporters. His jab at the late senator came as he defended a Trump administration order to keep a Navy ship named for McCain hidden from view during his recent trip to Japan as likely "well-meaning," though Trump said he knew nothing about the request.
But McCain did get it done on vets' care.
Trump routinely takes full credit for enacting the Veterans Choice program, ignoring the fact that it was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2014. McCain was a co-sponsor of the legislation to overhaul the Department of Veterans Affairs. What Trump did was expand eligibility for the program.
Meanwhile, Trump is also claiming exoneration and a possible case against him "closed" in the Russia investigation. But special counsel Robert Mueller, who announced this past week the end to his work, specifically declined to vindicate Trump on obstruction charges. Mueller indicated it was up to Congress to decide whether to take up continued investigations and bring charges of wrongdoing against a sitting president.
A look at the claims, also covering his comments on Duchess Meghan, trade, the economy, North Korea and more:
DUCHESS MEGHAN
TRUMP: "I never called Meghan Markle 'nasty.' Made up by the Fake News Media, and they got caught cold!" — tweet Sunday
THE FACTS: Trump, in fact, did use the word "nasty" to describe Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex.
Trump was referring to an interview Friday with the British tabloid The Sun in which he was asked about comments the former American actress made in 2016, where she threatened to move to Canada if Trump won the White House.
According to a recording of the interview released by The Sun, Trump responded: "I didn't know that. What can I say? I didn't know that she was nasty."
It's unclear, however, whether Trump's use of "nasty" referred to the duchess herself or the negative things she said about him in 2016. Trump also spoke positively about Meghan in the interview.
When asked whether it was good for an American to be a member of the British royal family, Trump said: "I think it's nice. I'm sure she will do excellently. She'll be very good."
The former Meghan Markle married Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, in 2018 and gave birth to their first child, Archie, in May.
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VETERANS
TRUMP: "I disagree with John McCain on the way he handled the vets, because I said you got get to Choice. He was never able to get Choice. I got Choice." — remarks Thursday to reporters, according to a transcript released by the White House
TRUMP: "We passed VA Choice and VA Accountability to give our veterans the care that they deserve and they have been trying to pass these things for 45 years." — Montoursville, Pennsylvania, rally on May 20
TRUMP: "Another one they said could never get passed, they have been trying to do it for 40 years, we passed VA Choice. Veterans Choice." — El Paso rally on Feb. 11
THE FACTS: Trump was not the first president in four decades to pass the Veterans Choice program. What Trump got done was an expansion of the Choice program achieved by McCain and Sen. Bernie Sanders, the main lawmakers who advanced the legislation signed by President Obama.