Trump said he 'should have' gone to Arlington Cemetery on Veterans Day but he was 'extremely busy on calls for the country'

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November 16, 2018 10:27 PM

President Donald Trump told Fox News he should've gone to Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day, but said he was "extremely busy" at the time.

President Donald Trump stands amongst the headstones during an American Commemoration Ceremony, Sunday Nov. 11, 2018, at Suresnes American Cemetery near Paris. Trump is attending centennial commemorations in Paris this weekend to mark the Armistice that ended World War I. November 11, 2018.

because it was raining.

President Donald Trump told Fox News he should've gone to Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day, but said he was "extremely busy" at the time.

In an interview set to air on Sunday, Fox host Chris Wallace asked Trump why he didn't go to the famed cemetery on Veterans Day, noting former President Barack Obama "went every year he was here in DC."

"I should have done that, I was extremely busy on calls for the country, we did a lot of calling as you know," Trump said, according to a transcript.

Wallace challenged him, emphasizing the importance of the day.

"But this is Veteran's Day," he said to Trump.

President Barack Obama places a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, during a Veteran's Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. BusinessInsider

The president suggested he thought it was OK for him to skip a visit to Arlington this year because he'd just marked the centennial of the end of World War I in France.

"I could have done that. As you know, I just left the day before the American Cemetery and I probably think, and that was one where it was raining as hard as you can imagine and I made a speech at the American Cemetery the day before. And I probably, you know, in retrospect I should have and I did last year and I will virtually every year," Trump said.

The president added: "But we had come in very late at night and I had just left, literally, the American Cemetery in Paris. And I really probably assumed that was fine and I was extremely busy because of affairs of state — doing other things."

Trump has often come under fire for talking tough about the military, but not showing it the same level of respect as past presidents. During his 2016 campaign, for example, he was decried by people on both sides of the aisle for attacking a Gold Star family. More recently, he was bashed for skipping a visit to a World War I memorial in France because it was raining.

The president has also faced ongoing criticism for not yet visiting US troops stationed in a war zone, which is something his two most recent predecessors did early on in their tenures.

In an interview with The Associated Press in October, Trump employed a similar excuse regarding visiting Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day, claiming he's " target="_blank"been very busy."

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