VA secretary dismisses Trump POW remarks as 'politics' and denies President made disparaging comments about fallen Marines

Asked by CNN's Dana Bash whether it was acceptable for Trump in 2015 to question whether the late Arizona Sen. John McCain, a Navy veteran who was held as a prisoner of war for more than five years during the Vietnam War, was a war hero and make other comments that denigrated American service members who were captured during war, Wilkie said: "Well, it's politics."

"It's the heat of a campaign. I judge a man by his actions, and the actions have been beneficial for veterans all across this country in ways that we have not seen since the end of World War II. And I would also say the same for the United States military," he said on "State of the Union." "I was the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. I watched this President sign letters of condolences to those who have fallen in Afghanistan and Iraq. I was on the the frontlines then, so I'm judging the President by what he's done as president."

Wilkie told Bash that he "absolutely" believed McCain was a war hero.

The Veterans Affairs secretary on Sunday added his voice to the chorus of administration officials denying Trump has been disrespectful toward the military following reports that Trump make disparaging comments about fallen US troops.

"Absolutely not," Wilkie said when asked if he had ever heard the President make such comments. "And I would be offended too if I thought it was true."

A former senior administration official confirmed to CNN on Saturday that Trump referred to fallen US service members in crude and derogatory terms at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France during a November 2018 trip to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.

The former official, who declined to be named, largely confirmed reporting from Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic magazine last week, which cited sources who said Trump rejected the idea of a cemetery visit and proceeded to refer to the fallen soldiers as "losers" and "suckers." The magazine also reported that Trump didn't want to attend a ceremony at the cemetery because he was concerned that the rain would dishevel his hair.

The New York Times, Washington Post, Fox News and the Associated Press have corroborated parts of The Atlantic's reporting.

Trump has forcefully denied the report in The Atlantic and on Thursday called it "a disgraceful situation."

"To think that I would make statements negative to our military when nobody has done what I've done, with the budgets and the military budget. We're getting pay raises for the military. It is a disgraceful situation, by a magazine that is a terrible magazine, I don't read it," Trump told reporters after returning from a rally in Pennsylvania.

The President has also pushed back on reporting that he insulted McCain, admitting he "was never a fan," but insisting he "still respected him."

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told "Fox News Sunday" that "this President supports the military in an unbelievable way."

"I think this President has enormous respect for the military and for the generals," he said Sunday.

That statement is belied somewhat by the President's own words. He trashed his former chief of staff John Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, on Friday, and he has similarly disparaged his onetime Defense Secretary Gen. James Mattis.

Still, Mnuchin insisted he's been with Trump at Arlington National Cemetery and at a World War II anniversary and has only seen the President show respect toward US veterans.

He declined to weigh in on the President's demand that Fox News fire a reporter who confirmed parts of the Atlantic article, saying he wasn't following that story.