When the President of the United States Donald Trump, who was able to avoid the military draft five times in the 1960s, shared an AI-generated image depicting him in a U.S. Army uniform and declaring “I love the smell of deportations in the morning,” many American veterans responded with criticism.
[The quote has its origins in the Francis Ford Coppola movie Apocalypse Now, in which the bellicose Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore (Robert Duvall) tells Lance the Surfer (Sam Bottoms), “I love the smell of napalm in the morning” as helicopters fly above a beach during the Vietnam War.]
Note: The AI image of Trump included military helicopters hovering over the skyline of Chicago, the U.S. city about which the President wrote on social media: “Chicago is about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.” (Trump signed an executive order this weekend to rename the Department of Defense, changing it to the Department of War.)
As a former F-16 pilot, seeing the President of the United States post something like this is the worst possible message to our military members. pic.twitter.com/kgJNpDz714
— Terry Virts (@AstroTerry) September 7, 2025
Terry Virts, a retired NASA astronaut, International Space Station commander, and colonel in the U.S. Air Force responded: “As a former F-16 pilot, seeing the President of the United States post something like this is the worst possible message to our military members.”
Former Naval Aircrewman Lawrence Goldman concurred with Virts and responded: “As a veteran also, it’s disgusting.”
Virts, who is running as a Democrat in the 2026 U.S. Senate election in Texas for the seat currently held by Republican Sen. John Cornyn, also criticized the Trump administration for moving U.S. Space Force from Colorado to Alabama.
I spent 16 years in Air Force Space Command and was an early advocate for US Space Force. The Space Command move from Colorado to Alabama will be a waste of taxpayer dollars and will not make our military any more lethal.https://t.co/6lojRF9B54
— Terry Virts (@AstroTerry) September 2, 2025
Virts wrote: “I spent 16 years in Air Force Space Command and was an early advocate for US Space Force. The Space Command move from Colorado to Alabama will be a waste of taxpayer dollars and will not make our military any more lethal.” He added: “It is an expensive ‘good ole boy’ move that is politically motivated and will only hurt morale.”
Note: Virts will face former U.S. Congressman and retired NFL player Colin Allred (D-TX) and Texas State Representative James Talarico in the Democratic primary.