Daily Express: Trump breaks with centuries-old U.S. tradition in bid to maintain ‘superiority’

The move follows other efforts by Trump to turn government institutions into vehicles to further his personal agenda

Four-star general candidates will meet with President Donald Trump before their confirmation is finalized, according to the White House. The new procedure comes as a break from past practice, one that critics say appears as a possible attempt to treat military leaders as political appointees based on their loyalty to the president.

“President Trump wants to ensure our military is the greatest and most lethal fighting force in history, which is why he meets with four-star-general nominees directly to ensure they are war fighters first – not bureaucrats,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement to several outlets.

Kelly said the intent of the meetings is for Trump to ensure the military retains its superiority and that its leaders are focused not on politics, but on fighting wars. The New York Times, which was the first to report on the procedure, said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth first initiated it.

The recent move to personally oversee the political involvement of militarly leaders is not the first time the president has leveraged the armed forces in furtherance of partisan goals, according to The Associated Press. In June, during the height of the largely peaceful protests in Los Angeles against ICE raids, Trump mobilized the National Guard and the Marines.

He sent hundreds of troops into the streets of the California city against the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who has vocally opposed Trump on several occasions. Trump contended Newsom had “totally lost control of the situation.” Newsom said the president was “behaving like a tyrant.”

It was the first time the Guard has been used without a governor’s consent since then-President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to Alabama in 1965 to ensure compliance with civil rights laws.

Trump followed up with a campaign-style rally at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, where uniformed soldiers cheered as he criticized former President Joe Biden, Newsom and other Democrats, raising concerns that Trump was using the military as a political prop.

Sen. Tom Cotton, an Army veteran and Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the meetings “very welcome reform.”

“I’ve long advocated for presidents to meet with 4-star nominees. President Trump’s most important responsibility is commander-in-chief,” Cotton wrote in a post on X.

“The military-service chiefs and combatant commanders are hugely consequential jobs” and “I commend President Trump and Secretary Hegseth for treating these jobs with the seriousness they deserve.”

On July 14, Trump hosted a military parade in Washington, D.C., to celebrate both the Army’s 250th anniversary and his own 79th birthday. The parade featured troops marching in formation, military vehicles and product advertisements. It came as one of the most visible ways Trump has tried to turn government institutions into vehicles to implement his personal agenda, according to The Associated Press.

“As many lengths as Army leaders have gone through to depoliticize the parade, it’s very difficult for casual observers of the news to see this as anything other than a political use of the military,” said Carrie Ann Lee, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund who also taught at the U.S. Army War College.

Trump has wanted a military parade since his first term, but senior commanders balked, worrying it would be more like a spectacle one would see in authoritarian countries such as North Korea or Russia than something befitting the United States. After returning to the White House, Trump fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, replaced him with his own pick and dismissed several other top military leaders.

“We don’t want military forces who work as an armed wing of a political party,” Lee said.

King Donald is turning flag-rank appointments into political appointees. This is an extremely bad idea.

https://www.the-express.com/news/us-news/178958/trump-breaks-centuries-old-us-tradition

Irish Star: Trump’s swollen ankles spark fresh health fears as president appears squeezed into shoes

One social media user said Trump’s ankles were the ‘craziest’ thing they saw all day watching the FIFA Club World Cup

Photos taken of President Donald Trump at the FIFA Club World Cup on Sunday showing what appear to be his severely swollen ankles have sparked new health fears among social media users.

Donald and Melania Trump attended the finals match at Metlife Stadium in New Jersey as part of a broader effort to expand U.S. involvement in the sport ahead of next year’s World Cup, which will be hosted largely in America. Trump received a mix of cheers and boos when he was shown on the stadium screen, and was booed later while he presented medals to the match winners.

The president was photographed during the event from a head-on angle while he sat next to the first lady, offering an unobstructed frontal view of his shoes and ankles. Commenters on X were quick to fixate on his visibly swollen ankles. It comes as a lip reader reveals Donald Trump’s raunchy request to Melania – and her response.

“What in the h— is going on with Trump’s legs and feet? Look at how his shoes are completely untied,” one X user wrote. “Whatever he’s hiding is getting worse.”

“HEART FAILURE causes fluid accumulation in the lower legs,” another commenter wrote. “His heart is too weak to pump blood through his kidneys efficiently so they can’t remove excess fluid from the body.”

According to WebMD, venous insufficiency is one of the more common of swollen ankles and feet, where blood pools in the legs due to weakened valves. Injuries such as sprains and fractures can trigger inflammation, and prolonged sitting or standing can increase pressure in the lower extremities.

Leg swelling can also be a sign of deep vein thrombosis, congestive heart failure, or kidney or liver disease.

Social media users have speculated for years about the state of the 79-year-old president’s mental and physical health, though allegations have increased in recent months in the wake of several marks or sores seen on his right hand and the back of his neck. Another common concern is that he has dementia, a degenerative disease that reportedly runs in his family.

The president’s cognitive decline quickly becomes a topic of conversation on social media after he makes social gaffes at live events, posts rambling tirades on Truth Social, and forgets or fabricates important dates, names or events.

During his 2024 campaign, Trump frequently mocked Joe Biden for his own alleged mental and physical ailments, calling him unfit to serve in the role.

With a bit of luck, perhaps King Donald will be “86”d into a nursing home or a memory care unit!

https://www.irishstar.com/news/us-news/trumps-swollen-ankles-spark-fresh-35556008