President Donald Trump filed for dismissal Fox News‘security correspondent after supporting an explosive report that he called dead US soldiers “suckers” and “losers.”

The right-wing news channel, which largely supports the president, spent much of Friday morning attacking the first exclusive by Atlantic, in particular its use of anonymous sources.

But later that same day, Jennifer Griffin confirmed much of the reporting on Mr. Trump’s apparent contempt for veterans.

In a long Twitter feed, Ms Griffin said former Trump administration officials confirmed that Mr Trump “had denigrated veterans” and did not want to go to a cemetery in France to honor the American war dead during a visit to Paris in 2018.

“When the president talked about the Vietnam War, he said, ‘It was a stupid war. Anyone who went there was a sucker, ”Ms. Griffin told a former official.

She added: “I read a few quotes from The Atlantic article at the source. This former Trump administration official said, ‘The president would say things like that. He does not know why people join the military. they’re doing it”?'”

According to The Atlantic, Mr. Trump told his staff that he did not want to visit the Aisne-Marne American cemetery because it was “filled with losers”.

It was reported at the time that the trip was canceled because his helicopter was unable to fly in the rain that day and the Secret Service was unable to take him to the cemetery.

Another incident from the same trip implied that Mr. Trump allegedly referred to the Marines who died at Belleau Wood, one of the most difficult battles for Marines in World War I, as “suckers.”

Among other allegations in the report, Mr. Trump asked his then Homeland Security Secretary General John Kelly why his son, 1st Lt. Robert Kelly, had gone to the trouble of sacrificing his life by joining the ‘army.

“I don’t understand. What was there for them?” Mr. Trump reportedly told General Kelly in 2017 as he stood next to his son’s grave in Arlington Cemetery, Virginia.

Mr. Trump vehemently denied the information, and the White House summoned a host of Trump allies on Friday to defend the president against the allegations.

“Atlantic magazine is dying like most magazines so they are making up a fake story in order to gain relevance,” Trump tweeted Friday, providing no evidence for his claim that the magazine is struggling. financial.

He then attacked Fox News for its coverage, called for Ms Griffin’s dismissal and suggested General Kelly itself could have been an anonymous source quoted in The Atlantic.