The service and sacrifice of American troops make the president uncomfortable.

What is it with Trump and the troops?

His escape from the memorial of US soldiers buried in Paris the centenary of the First World War armistice, his parade at Arlington Cemetery on Veterans Day, his inability to travel to a single US war zone after nearly two years in office – all reflect something strangely distant about this president's vision of his most basic rituals and obligations as commander-in-chief of the US Armed Forces. But what are the roots of this strangeness?

A recent article in The New York Times quotes an unidentified source suggesting that Trump did not salute the troops in action because he does not support the wars they are waging and thinks that a visit would give them legitimate legitimacy. But that makes no sense for at least two reasons. First, although Trump initially wanted to come out of the war in Afghanistan, he finally decided earlier this year to increase the number of his troops in the region. Secondly, President Obama campaigned for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq – and did so on schedule – but nevertheless visited them less than three months after the start of his first term. Similarly, Dwight Eisenhower had promised to end the war in Korea in 1952, but had visited the troops after winning the elections ahead of the withdrawal.

Some see Trump's laxity as another example of his narcissism: if an event, trip, engagement or policy can not be seen as all about him, he is not interested in it. And if he is criticized, he goes back, often wildly, regardless of the criticism.

That explains his speech this week against retired Admiral William McRaven, former commander of the US Special Operations Forces and architect of the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, as "a supporter of Hillary Clinton "and" Obama's support ". ipso factounworthy of respect. McRaven had criticized Trump for attacking the media and, before that, for revoking the security clearance of former CIA director John Brennan. But this trait does not explain his inability to visit the troops who would treat any president with respect and to applaud, or to remain solemnly in a military cemetery, where he could wrap himself in the glories of the past without protest.

When people do service and make sacrifices on Trump's orders, as the men and women of the armed forces regularly do, his discomfort intensifies. nausea.

Others wonder if he might be afraid of being comfortable. Perhaps, but the security around a president in a war zone is extremely close; the chances of getting shot or exploding are probably lower than on many other sites where he could travel.

I think the real cause of her failure here is deeper: she is uncomfortable with the very idea of ​​service or sacrifice.

On a daily basis, he considers those who give themselves to themselves as builders. Note his pride in avoiding taxes ("That makes me smart," he boasted during one of the debates in 2016), his promises to make charitable donations and even his obligation to pay sellers as part of its various unsuccessful commercial projects.

But in extraordinary situations, especially when people do service and make sacrifices on his orders, as the men and women of the armed forces regularly do, his discomfort worsens to nausea – he can not cope the link between death and tragedy.

Once, at the beginning of his presidency, Trump went to Dover Air Base to see a fallen warrior return to his coffin and mourn his family. In this case, the soldier was William "Ryan" Owens, who died in an ambush in Yemen, during the first military operation approved by Trump as president. Trump was moved by the ceremony (according to all accounts, it's always a terribly damning affair) and, according to Bob Woodward Fear, know that he would never come back to Dover again. Later, he blamed Owens' death on the generals who planned the mission, ignoring the fact that he had approved it.

Trump says he has done more for the troops than any president "for many years," claiming he could believe, since he never studied the past. He throws references on "my military" and "my generals" and argues no doubt that he has a pretense of possessive since he is the commander-in-chief. But such words would seem less arrogant and pretentious if he showed any interest in what they were doing and how they were.

No such devoted president to the troops would have sent 5,200 of them to the Mexican border for the sole purpose of supporting his party's candidates in the mid-term, a motive that was clearly confirmed when & # 39; He stopped making the caravan of migrants from Central America an invasion. "The next day and a week after the announcement of the end of the mission, even as the migrants approached.

Trump loves the pomp and circumstance of the remnants of war. He was thirsty for a military parade and was crushed when the Pentagon told him that the price to pay for the parade he wanted to hold in downtown Washington would be too high, even to his liking. He had said that the idea was to honor the troops, few people resented it (they are too busy for the pageantry these days), although its true purpose – as the officers who were lifted his eyes to the sky at the request … would have been to garnish garlands while he was standing on the stage, radiating, as the May 1st commissioners on the Red Square, while he inspected their ranks.

He knows nothing of the realities of war and clearly has no desire to be enlightened. Even a peripheral exhibition could highlight his responsibility for what is happening on the battlefield as well as for the consequences, which would be unacceptable for a man who seems to treat his presidency as a big show judging by his ratings.