US President Donald Trump has found himself in the receiving end of criticism after allegedly calling American soldiers who were killed in combat as "suckers" and "losers."

According to a report by an international news agency, Trump, who refused to visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018 to honor the dead service members, had said, "Why should I go to that cemetery? It's filled with losers." During the same trip, he apparently later referred to the over 1800 Marines who lost their lives in the Battle of Belleau Wood in France as "suckers" for getting killed. However, Trump and his aides denied that he had made any such statements and reprimanded the reporters. Responding to the "false" reports, Trump stated, "If people really exist that would have said that, they're lowlifes and they're liars. I would be willing to swear on anything that I never said that about our fallen heroes. There is nobody that respects them more. What animal would say such a thing? And especially since I've done more, I think more than almost anybody, to help our military to get the budgets, to get the pay raises for our military. So I just think it's a horrible thing that they are allowed to write that. We can refute it. We have other people that will refute it."

"It is a disgraceful situation by a magazine that is a terrible magazine. I don't read it. I just heard about it, but they made it up. Probably it's a couple of people that have been failures in the administration," Trump reportedly said, upon his return from a campaign rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. The White House apparently rubbished the reports as well. In a statement with a news agency, White House communications director Alyssa Farah said, "This report is false. President Trump holds the military in the highest regard. He's demonstrated his commitment to them at every turn: delivering on his promise to give our troops a much-needed pay raise, increasing military spending, signing critical veterans reforms, and supporting military spouses. This has no basis in fact."

It is, however, noteworthy that Trump had earlier invited the wrath of people when he said the late Senator John McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam, was not a war hero. "I like people who weren't captured," Trump had said. Meanwhile, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has described the president's alleged remarks as "disgusting" and "damnable," adding that Trump should apologize for the statement. "It's disgusting, and it affirms what most of us believe to be true - that Donald Trump is not fit to be the job of president and be the commander-in-chief. If these statements are true, the president should humbly apologise to every Gold Star mother and father and every Blue Star family that he's denigrated and insulted. Who the heck does he think he is?" Biden questioned.