Trump and Harris jockey for advantage on military strength

With just over two months until the election, Trump and Harris are vying for advantage on military issues, debating not just who would keep America safe, but also who would best care for the needs of veterans and who holds the U.S. armed forces in the respect they deserve.

Neither candidate has served in the military, and both are stressing their diplomatic and foreign policy successes. Both are also surrounding themselves with veterans to vouch for them, including their running mates, who have engaged in their own fierce back-and-forth about military service.

The candidates’ argument over who would stand up better for America’s military comes as tensions are flaring around the world, from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to Israel’s war with Hamas to China’s aggression against its neighbors. While Harris has limited experience with the armed forces, Trump has alternately praised the military, criticized generals and questioned America’s alliances, leaving each nominee potentially vulnerable on the issue.

The Harris campaign has turned to its own raft of supporters to stress that the vice president would be a strong commander in chief.

At the Democratic National Convention, Rep. Ruben Gallego, a Marine who is running for a U.S. Senate seat in Arizona, brought dozens of elected Democratic veterans onstage during his remarks. He pointed out that Trump had spoken ill of a veteran and former prisoner of war, the late Republican senator John McCain. And he said that Project 2025, a blueprint assembled by conservative groups…   for the next Republican administration, would “slash veteran benefits and force VA hospitals to close across the nation.” Trump has harshly criticized Project 2025.

Trump, for his part, has pitched himself as a champion of a strong U.S. military, but his comments about service members have repeatedly been criticized as disrespectful.

The latest controversy flared when Trump called a civilian medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, “much better” than the Medal of Honor, the top military award recognizing valor in combat, because the latter often goes to people wounded or killed in service, a comment that drew a rare rebuke from the Veterans of Foreign Wars.