this post was submitted on 08 Mar 2026
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The president isn't military, he's not even supposed to salute. I know it's become expected, but he is a civilian. Ignoring that, the only disrespectful is the type of hat he is wearing. You're actually supposed to wear your cover outdoors, look at the actual military members in the photo. There are so many legit reasons to hate Trump we don't need to make ones up.
Correct, and as he's not military the preferred sign of respect is to remove his hat and put his hand over his heart. Like all prior presidents (whom have not served) do, and as other civilians in this photo are doing.
Trump has a long history of giving zero shits about signs of respect to the military though, so I'd say it's always worth pointing them out for the crayon eaters that still vote for him in droves.
Example of a different enfeebled elderly president that actually respects the military signalling his respect to the fallen:
Also just to further snub Trump but Biden looks pretty good in his suit, well tailored and fitted to him. Unlike Trump who somehow wears clothes more I'll fitting than mine, difference is I can't get my clothes tailored and have a weird as build.
There is no way you would want to see Trump in a suit fitted to him.
His expression is giving “I really need to poop” rather than “respect for the fallen”, but his tailoring is on point.
Hey when you need to shit you need to shit. Nature and biology care little for ceremony, for example Gestures at pile of heat striken privates during ceremony though I'm not military I grew up around enough veterans to know how common that is, also witnessed it happen twice while in boy scouts.
Maybe but I interpreted it as him feeling actual genuine sorrow since his own son died in service, it probably was a reminder
Oh right. In hindsight, that was a callous comment on my part.
Isn't the commander in chief technically military?
Not technically. Yes, they're the Commander in Chief, but they maintain civilian status. They oversee the military, but are not actually a member of the military. This is also why they cannot be prosecuted under military law or court martialed.
Can't find current link on Defense website, but here's an older one: https://web.archive.org/web/20170512070110/https://archive.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=45870
My question too. At the very least he seems like a singular case where it’s unclear.
Isn’t the president commander in chief?
I’m not American, this is a real question
Yes. That's not a military position, that's a civilian position. The ironic part is, the military is commanded by a civilian to keep the military in check...
LOL how is that going for USAians?
Yeah, exactly the "irony" part.
Actually very well. You don’t understand the point you’re trying to make. The military being commanded by a civilian to keep the military in check is about keeping the military from ruling the country. See: Pakistan, Myanmar.
What you see is the civilian government throwing the military around carelessly, not the military getting out of check.
If you want to laugh about something, laugh about how the checks and balances between the 3 branches of government have broken down, not about the military ruling over the people.
Oh no we're laughing at that too 🤣😅
Was it Regan who started returning salutes when saluted by military members? I'm not 100% sure but I want to say before that most presents just acknowledged the salute and went on. I seem to remember it was Ronnie that started the trend.
I can't think of any recent presidents from either side who would have caught dead pulling the maneuver in this photo, however.
I mean to be fair, we were told it was a low effort meme.
To add to what you said, the origin of the salute is related to headgear.
One potential origin of the salute is knights raising their faceguards, which obviously requires you to be wearing one. Another potential origin of the salute is the courtesy of removing your hat in the presence of a superior officer. You still see this (though mostly in period historical dramas) with the hat tip.
The military still retains that link, you're not supposed to salute while wearing your hat. For civilians, the equivalent respectful move is to remove your hat in certain situations. These days you mostly encounter that at a sporting event where people sometimes remove their hats during the national anthem.
So, for a president who isn't part of the military, the official protocol is probably to stand at attention while not wearing a hat. An acceptable modern alternative is to salute, and since hats are uncommon these days it's mostly to salute while not wearing a hat. Saluting while wearing a hat is probably a reasonable variation on that. A disrespectful move would be to wear a hat and not salute. Of course, the fact it's a MAGA campaign merch hat is disrespectful in itself.
They're fucking hitting schools, hospitals and water facilities and this is what you're arguing about?
Respecting the people that just commited war crimes? And your take is how he should acshually do it?
Fucking hell.
When did I say to respect anyone? You're making my point for me. There are tons of things to be legitimately mad about, we don't need to make ones up.