Donald Trump Endorsed by 88 Retired Generals and Admirals

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has welcomed the endorsement from 88 former military leaders in an open letter, his campaign has announced.

The 88 retired generals and admirals declared the Republican nominee “has the temperament to be commander-in-chief”.

Donald Trump, who has highlighted veterans’ issues during his campaign, called their support “a great honor”.

The Republican has meanwhile been dismissing claims of impropriety over a political donation to a Florida official.

The Washington Post reported on September 5 that in 2013 Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi had been considering fraud charges against Trump University.

However, Pam Bondi dropped the investigation after a $25,000 contribution to her political campaign from the Donald J. Trump Foundation.

Donald Trump was fined because he did not disclose the contribution to the US tax authorities.

The open letter released on September 6 by his campaign was signed by four 4-star generals.

The former top brass stated they believe Donald Trump is “more trusted to be commander-in-chief than Hillary Clinton”.

“We believe that such a change can only be made by someone who has not been deeply involved with, and substantially responsible for, the hollowing out of our military and the burgeoning threats facing our country around the world,” they added.

Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will take part back-to-back in a national security forum on September 7.

The forum, to be hosted by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, will include questions from an audience of military service members.

Also on September 6, Hillary Clinton released a campaign ad featuring veterans who are critical of Donald Trump.

Hillary Clinton’s ad includes a clip of Donald Trump from July 2015 casting doubt on leading Republican John McCain’s war hero credentials.

Arizona Senator John McCain was tortured for more than five years as a prisoner of the North Vietnamese.

Despite making support for the military a signature issue in his campaign, Donald Trump has at various times drawn criticism from military members.

He was involved in a recent spat with family members of a Muslim-American soldier killed during the Iraq War.

Donald Trump, who has not served in the military, also created a stir last month when he accepted a veteran’s gift of a Purple Heart which is awarded to soldiers wounded in war.