Last Thursday afternoon, President Donald Trump hosted a ceremony at the White House honoring Purple Heart veterans, marking National Purple Heart Day, observed annually on August 7.
During the event, Trump drew a personal connection between his own experience last year and the sacrifices of those wounded in military service. He referenced the assassination attempt he survived on July 13, 2024, at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. saying, “Last year, after an assassin tried to take my life in Butler, Pennsylvania, Thomas Matteo generously mailed me one of his Purple Hearts.”
The veterans Trump mentioned, Thomas Matteo, John Ford, and Gerald Enter Jr., were all present at the ceremony. Each had mailed their Purple Heart medals to Trump after he was wounded by gunfire during the Butler rally, where gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from a rooftop, injuring Trump and several attendees.
Crooks, a resident of Bethel Park near Pittsburgh, had traveled 53 miles to the rally site, where the attack resulted in one fatality and two wounded victims. Trump’s right ear was grazed during the shooting, and only days later, he accepted the Republican presidential nomination at their national convention.
View this post on Instagram
Trump expressed honor and gratitude for receiving the Purple Hearts from these veterans. “What a great honor to get those Purple Hearts.” He reflected on his own experience compared to theirs and said, “I guess, in a certain way, it wasn’t that easy for me either, when you think of it,” Trump said. He then added, “But you went through a lot more than I did, and I appreciate it all very much.”
The act of veterans mailing their Purple Hearts to Trump extended beyond the three men he mentioned. Many others who had received the honor reached out with their medals, prompting Trump to invite several Purple Heart recipients to his campaign stops.
There, he returned the medals to their rightful owners, as she showed the respect he had for the recipients of the hearts. The medals given to Trump were presented over multiple ceremonies during the final months of his 2024 presidential campaign.
.@POTUS officially proclaims today, August 7, 2025, as National Purple Heart Day.
Here is the text of the Proclamation:
On National Purple Heart Day, we pause in solemn tribute to every American Soldier, Sailor, Marine, Airman, Guardian, and Coast Guardsman who was wounded or… pic.twitter.com/r4laMowszS
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 7, 2025
The White House event concluded with Trump signing an official proclamation, making August 7, 2025, a National holiday. He delivered his remarks mostly from a prepared script and conveyed the solemn ]of remembering those wounded or killed in service. The Purple Heart medal, established in 1782, is the oldest military award still in use, given to service members injured or killed by enemy action or terrorist acts.
The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor showcases the legacy of those recognized with this medal, housing records of more than 1.8 million recipients since the award’s inception over two centuries ago.
Trump Signs a Proclamation, Officially Declaring Today, August 7, 2025, as National Purple Heart Day. pic.twitter.com/IMWoSc0Ifc
— Bannon’s WarRoom (@Bannons_WarRoom) August 7, 2025
With Trump comparing his experience to those of the veterans, he has proved once again that he will go to any length to prove how sacrificial he is for his country. While the assassination attempt on him was indeed unfortunate and traumatic, comparing it to the incidents that veterans have to endure on a battlefield, seems like a little too much.
However, Trump has never really cared much about saying things that make sense and therefore this comparison is also not really surprising since he is the one making it.
