US President Donald Trump said at the opening of the 26th Presidential Library of Theodore Roosevelt White House in North Dakota that he would like to award himself and his sons the Medals of Honor, the country's highest military decoration. Trump made the proposal as a joke, mentioning in his speech the two cases in the history of the country when the award was awarded to a father and son.
The first such case was Arthur and Douglas MacArthur, who received awards in different years for their exploits during the Civil War and World War II, respectively. And then Theodore Roosevelt's son and himself received the Medal of Honor posthumously.
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was honored for his participation in the landings in Normandy, France, also during World War II, and his father received the award in 2001 for leading the offensive in Cuba during the Spanish-American War.
“I see my two beautiful sons here and I think I’ll probably give one [медаль] for themselves, one for them – and now there will be three of us (threesome in the original – approx. RTVI.US),” Trump said in a broadcast on the C-SPAN television channel.
President Trump discusses recognizing his sons with a military award at the Theodore Roosevelt Library: “I think I'm going to give one to myself, one to them and we'll have a threesome, okay?” pic.twitter.com/UWi93He9hM
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 2, 2026
The president's eldest sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., attended the July 1 event. They arrived in North Dakota with him on a new Air Force One plane, donated by the family of the Emir of Qatar.
“I will choose one of the two and give them the Congressional Medal of Honor for something. For example, for their genius hunting abilities, and for themselves to fight “Russia-Russia-Russia,” Trump said, likely referring to the Justice Department's investigation into his alleged ties to Russia after the 2016 election.
The head of the White House summed up this part of the speech by saying that he usually makes such statements to “get a laugh.” He noted that advisers advise him to avoid sarcastic remarks to prevent “fake news” from spreading them as real plans.
Roosevelt remains the only US president to receive the Medal of Honor. The award is, in principle, given exclusively to military personnel for courage “beyond the call of duty.” Neither Trump nor his sons served in the military.
