Trump - who famously got a pass from serving in Vietnam - said he is 'making up for' his lack of service by increasing funding for the military

ITV

In the interview before attending D Day memorial services Trump was asked about not having served in the military.

• President Donald Trump in an interview with Piers Morgan on Wednesday was asked about his military record.
• Trump claimed he "was never a fan" of the Vietnam war, which he avoided fighting in because of a "bone spur" condition.
• He went on to claim that he was "making up" for not serving in the military by increasing Pentagon funding.
• Trump has been called a "draft dodger" by opponents, including Democratic presidential contender Pete Buttigieg.
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President Donald Trump in an interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan said he's "making up for" not serving in the US military by providing billions of dollars of funding for the Pentagon.

In the interview, broadcast before Trump attended ceremonies in England to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day, Morgan quizzed Trump about his reasons for not having served in the military.

Morgan noted that Trump received a draft deferment for the Vietnam War because of a "bone spur" which is said to have made him physically unfit to serve.

Trump then discussed Vietnam at greater length, telling Morgan he was "never a fan" of the conflict.

He said: "I thought it was a terrible war I thought it was very far away, and at that time nobody ever heard of the country, today they're doing very well," said the president.

"Nobody heard of Vietnam -[with] so many people dying, [people asked] what is happening over there? So I was never a fan - like we're fighting against Nazi Germany, we're fighting against Hitler."

Morgan then asked Trump if he would have liked to serve in another conflict. Trump said he would have been "honoured" to serve, and added that his administration's funding for the military compensates for the fact that he never did.

"I would not have minded that at all, I would have been honoured," he said.

"But I think I make up for it right now - look, $700 billion I gave last year, and this year $716 billion. And I think I'm making up for it rapidly because we're rebuilding our military at a level its never seen before."

Trump has long faced questions about the draft deferment he received after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968, in the middle of Vietnam War.

He had already received four deferments in order complete his college degree, and afterwards was given a further deferment because of protrusions caused by calcium buildup on the heel bone - known as "bone spurs."

He never sought treatment for the condition, and worked for his father's businesses after graduation. In December The New York Times reported that the doctor who made the diagnosis did so as a favor to Trump's father.

Democrat presidential contender Pete Buttigieg - a former Naval intelligence officer who served in Afghanistan - has criticised the president's military record.

"I have a pretty dim view of his decision to use his privileged status to fake a disability in order to avoid serving in Vietnam," he told the audience at a Washington Post event in May.

Trump has positioned himself as a champion of the military as president, agreeing to a proposed $750 billion military budget last year after reportedly having considered cutting back the budget to tackle the deficit.

He will join world leaders including British Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Portsmouth, England on Wednesday, for the D-Day ceremonies.

Thousands of Allied troops embarked from the city for the land invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe on June 5, 1944.