Fox News reported Trump never said that dead US troops were 'suckers,' but the network's national security correspondent said ex-officials confirmed he did

• The Atlantic reported on Thursday that President Donald Trump made derogatory remarks about fallen members of the military, going so far as to call them "suckers" and "losers."

• Fox News on Friday said the report was fabricated and criticized The Atlantic's use of anonymous sources.

• However, one of its own — national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin — said parts of the damning report were verified to her by two people who previously worked for the Trump administration.

• "According to one former senior Trump administration official: 'When the President spoke about the Vietnam War, he said, 'It was a stupid war. Anyone who went was a sucker,'" Griffin tweeted.

• Griffin also reported learning that Trump "just hated" Sen. John McCain and thought it was "not a good look" to include the "wounded guys" in a July 4 military parade.

• Trump appeared to be aware of Griffin's reporting and called on Fox News to fire her.

• Journalists who covered the White House responded by defending Griffin's credentials and her reporting.

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Fox News spent a chunk of its Friday coverage dismissing a report in The Atlantic saying President Donald Trump belittled fallen military members by calling them "suckers" and "losers."

Then Jennifer Griffin, a national security correspondent for the network, said in a lengthy Twitter thread that former Trump administration officials confirmed the president's remarks to her.

The Atlantic article cited anonymous sources, and Fox News's own sources suggested the article had been falsified. But two former senior Trump administration officials later verified the president's disparaging comments, Griffin said.

"According to one former senior Trump administration official: 'When the President spoke about the Vietnam War, he said, 'It was a stupid war. Anyone who went was a sucker,'" Griffin tweeted.

This source also described "a character flaw" of the president, saying, "He could not understand why someone would die for their country," Griffin added.

Trump made the comments during a 2018 visit to Paris to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, according to The Atlantic. Griffin said one of her sources told her the president was in a foul mood and asked why he had to visit two cemeteries during the visit.

Trump was scheduled to visit Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris that November but said the trip was called off because "the helicopter couldn't fly" and that the Secret Service wouldn't drive him to the cemetery. Griffin learned, however, that Trump "just didn't want to go," she wrote on Twitter, citing an unnamed source.

One of the sources also confirmed that the president said during a planning session that it was "not a good look" to include the "wounded guys" in a July 4 military parade, Griffin reported. She also said she found out that Trump "just hated" Sen. John McCain.

This corroboration comes on the heels of Trump, his family, and his advisers staunchly denying The Atlantic's story and framing it as a political attack by a biased magazine.

"The liberal activists at The Atlantic are uninterested in the truth, and they are only interested in peddling conspiracy-laden propaganda," White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters on Friday. "No one loves and cares for our servicemen and women as much as President Donald J. Trump."

Trump appeared to be aware of Griffin's reporting by Friday evening. The president took to Twitter to disparage Griffin and demand that Fox News fire her.

"All refuted by many witnesses," Trump tweeted with a link to a Breitbart News story. "Jennifer Griffin should be fired for this kind of reporting. Never even called us for comment. @FoxNews is gone!"

Journalists who covered the White House responded to Trump by defending Griffin's credentials and her reporting.

"[Griffin] is an excellent reporter and a class act," ABC News chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl said in a tweet.

Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier also described Griffin as "a great reporter and a total class act."

Griffin's story published on Fox News's website, which was co-authored with two other journalists, also included statements from unnamed officials who disputed portions of The Atlantic's reporting.

The headline to the Fox News story, which referenced the conflicting views from separate sources, said, "Sources dispute claim Trump nixed visit to military cemetery over disdain for slain veterans, but back up parts of Atlantic report."

According to a source who "is not a fan of Trump" and was on the same trip to Paris, the president was upset he could not make a trip to the cemetery and that they did not hear Trump refer to the dead service members as "losers" or "suckers," Fox News reported.

• Read more:

• 'I don't get it': Trump said to have questioned why retired Gen. John Kelly's son fought in Afghanistan — during a Memorial Day visit to his grave

• My son 'wasn't a sucker': Biden demands Trump apologize if he called US troops killed in combat 'losers'

• Trump says he lowered the flag for McCain 'without hesitation or complaint,' but a former senior official says 'that is not true'

• Trump decides to save the US military newspaper Stars and Stripes that his administration has planned to close for months

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