La agenda del Proyecto 2025 de la fórmula Trump-Vance incluye privar de beneficios a los veteranos y a las tropas en activo, al mismo tiempo que socava la capacidad del Departamento de Asuntos de los Veteranos (VA, por sus siglas en inglés) de cumplir su misión.

Project 2025’s Mandate for Leadership: “El Programa de Calificación de Discapacidades (VASRD) del VA ha asignado calificaciones de discapacidad a un número creciente de condiciones de salud a lo largo del tiempo; algunos tienen una relación tenue o no tienen ninguna relación con el servicio militar. El mayor crecimiento de las condiciones médicas presuntamente relacionadas con el servicio militar que persiguen el Congreso y las Organizaciones de Servicio de Veteranos, iniciado con el Agente Naranja y más recientemente con “Burn Pits”/Toxinas Aerotransportadas, ha llevado a aumentos históricos en el gasto obligatorio de VBA en los últimos años. El VA tiene un plan por etapas para reevaluar el VASRD y sus calificaciones de compensación, pero este proceso interno puede ser lento y laborioso, requiere aprobaciones de la Oficina de Administración y Presupuesto (OMB) y puede adquirir carga política tanto en el Congreso como con las VSO. La próxima Administración debería explorar cómo se podrían acelerar las revisiones de VASRD con la autorización de la OMB para lograr ahorros de costos significativos al revisar las asignaciones de calificación de discapacidad para futuros reclamantes y al mismo tiempo preservarlas total o parcialmente para los reclamantes existentes”.

VerifyThis: “En otras palabras, algunas condiciones médicas podrían recibir rangos diferentes en el futuro. Esto significa que los veteranos que envíen solicitudes en el futuro podrían calificar para menos beneficios de discapacidad de los que obtendrían ahora o ningún beneficio del todo”. 

Raw Story: “Project 2025 will rob veterans and active duty troops of billions in benefits”

“Among other recommendations, the plan proposes eliminating concurrent eligibility for both service-related disability benefits and military retirement benefits…

“The plan also proposes to end enrollment in VA medical care for veterans in two low-priority groups to save an estimated $69 billion through 2032 and narrow eligibility for veterans disability by excluding disabilities that cannot be related to military service…

“Project 2025 also calls for privatizing the Department of Defense’s current TRICARE system offered to military families.”

Fulcrum: “Project 2025 focuses on conservative political goals and extensive outsourcing, risking politicizing the VA further and undermining its ability to serve veterans effectively.”

Axios: “This is undeniably a Trump-driven operation. The biggest tell: Johnny McEntee — one of Trump’s closest White House aides, and his most fervent internal loyalty enforcer — is a senior adviser to Project 2025. One of the most powerful architects is Stephen Miller, a top West Wing adviser for the Trump administration.”

The Week: “Many of Trump’s indicated plans for a second term fall in line with the Project 2025 outline.”

New York Times: “Roberts told me that he views Heritage’s role today as ‘institutionalizing Trumpism.’ This includes leading Project 2025, a transition blueprint that outlines a plan to consolidate power in the executive branch, dismantle federal agencies and recruit and vet government employees to free the next Republican president from a system that Roberts views as stacked against conservative power. The lesson of Trump’s first year in office, Roberts told me, is that ‘the Trump administration … simply got a slow start. And Heritage and our allies in Project 2025 believe that must never be repeated.’”

Vance apoya a Trump, quien incumplió repetidamente sus promesas a los miembros del servicio y a los veteranos. Trump propuso recortes a los beneficios de los veteranos y dejó al Departamento de Asuntos de Veteranos en crisis después de poner al mando a sus adinerados aliados MAGA.

ProPublica: “Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Buddies Tried to Get the VA to Sell Access to Veterans’ Medical Records”

“Former President Donald Trump empowered associates from his private club to pursue a plan for the Department of Veterans Affairs to monetize patient data, according to documents newly released by congressional investigators. As ProPublica first reported in 2018, a trio based at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort weighed in on policy and personnel decisions for the federal government’s second-largest agency, despite lacking any experience in the U.S. government or military. While previous reporting showed the trio had a hand in budgeting and contracting, their interest in turning patient data into a revenue stream was not previously known.”

Military Times: “Trump’s ‘Mar-a-Lago Three’ had unusual, improper access on vets policy issues, VA now says”

ProPublica: “The Mar-a-Lago Crowd spoke with VA officials daily, the documents show, reviewing all manner of policy and personnel decisions. They prodded the VA to start new programs, and officials traveled to Mar-a-Lago at taxpayer expense to hear their views. ‘Everyone has to go down and kiss the ring,’ a former administration official said.”

USA Today: “[President Donald Trump’s proposed budget plan] would also slash individual unemployment benefits for disabled veterans by more than $40.8 billion over 10 years.”

Military.com: “Elderly Vets Could Face Benefits Cut Under Trump Budget”

“Veterans Affairs Secretary Dr. David Shulkin defended Wednesday a proposal in President Donald Trump’s federal budget plan that would cut a benefit paying thousands of dollars annually to disabled elderly veterans.”

Trump también ha menospreciado repetidamente a nuestro ejército: ha llamado a los veteranos “tontos” y “perdedores” y ha atacado a los miembros de las fuerzas armadas en activo como “tontos” y “bebés”.

Los Angeles Times: “En otra conversación durante el viaje, Trump se refirió a los 1.800 infantes de Marina que murieron en la batalla de Belleau Wood de la Primera Guerra Mundial como unos “bobos” por perder la vida, de acuerdo con el reporte de The Atlantic”.

The Atlantic:  “Trump rejected the idea of the visit because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain, and because he did not believe it important to honor American war dead.

“Trump said, ‘Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.’ In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as ‘suckers’ for getting killed.”

New York Times: “Moreover, people familiar with Mr. Trump’s private conversations say he has long scorned those who served in Vietnam as being too dumb to have gotten out of it, as he did through a medical diagnosis of bone spurs in his heels. At other times, according to those familiar with the remarks, Mr. Trump has expressed bewilderment that people choose military service over making money.”

Washington Post: “Trump unleashed his disdain, calling Afghanistan a ‘loser war.’ That phrase hung in the air and disgusted not only the military leaders at the table but also the men and women in uniform sitting along the back wall behind their principals. They all were sworn to obey their commander in chief’s commands, and here he was calling the war they had been fighting a loser war. 

‘You’re all losers,’ Trump said. ‘You don’t know how to win anymore.’ …

“[Trump’s comments] stunned nearly everyone in the room, and some vowed that they would never repeat them. Indeed, they have not been reported until now. ‘I wouldn’t go to war with you people,’ Trump told the assembled brass. Addressing the room, the commander in chief barked, ‘You’re a bunch of dopes and babies.’”

The Hill: “President Trump on Wednesday minimized the injuries of several U.S. service members who suffered concussions during an Iranian missile attack on two Iraqi bases that house American personnel.”