Service members seen wearing Donald Trump-themed patches
Active-duty service members were pictured wearing Donald Trump-themed morale patches as the president made his Memorial Day address aboard the USS Wasp at the Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan on Monday.
The patches featured a likeness of Trump alongside the slogan “Make Aircrew Great Again.” Vivian Salama, a White House reporter for The Wall Street Journal, posted images of aircrew wearing the badges to Twitter:
Airmen onboard the USS WASP wearing patches on their jumpsuits that read “Make Aircrew Great Again.” The patches include an image in the center in the likeness of President Trump. pic.twitter.com/rQKAyrcDte
— Vivian Salama (@vmsalama) May 28, 2019
The Associated Press also shared this image of the patch:
Troops often wear unofficial patches, that contain tongue-in-cheek humor, to build unit morale. Caroline Orr, a reporter for the National Observer, noted how some service members had been pictured wearing the same patch since 2017.
I had to check to make sure this was real. Verdict: Yes, these airmen really are wearing patches that say "Make Aircrew Great Again" with an image depicting Trump in the center.
(DoD tweeted a pic of the same patch in Sept 2017; Stars & Stripes posted a pic of it in July 2018). pic.twitter.com/vxDJmi6Ijp— Caroline Orr Bueno (@RVAwonk) May 28, 2019
It’s unclear where these patches originated from.
Trump caused controversy during his visit to service members in Iraq in December after he signed his campaign “Make America Great Again” hats for troops. Retired four-star Gen. Barry McCaffrey at the time described the move as “unheard of.”
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
