Trump Fires Back at CNN for Criticizing MAGA Hat Signing: If the Troops Ask, ‘I Will Sign’

President Donald Trump is slamming CNN for its negative coverage of his trip to visit military stationed in Iraq and Germany.

While meeting with members of the military, Trump signed memorabilia that included “Make America Great Again” hats and other campaign merchandise. CNN was quick to criticize the signing, with guest commentator John Kirby claiming it goes against military policy.

“It is, in fact, a campaign slogan that is a campaign item, and it is completely inappropriate for the troops to do this,” Kirby said.

Trump tweeted out a response, saying there was nothing wrong with signing the hats:

CNN & others within the Fake News Universe were going wild about my signing MAGA hats for our military in Iraq and Germany. If these brave young people ask me to sign their hat, I will sign. Can you imagine my saying NO? We brought or gave NO hats as the Fake News first reported!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 27, 2018

As IJR previously reported, the official military instruction states that “active duty personnel may not engage in partisan political activities and all military personnel should avoid the inference that their political activities imply or appear to imply DoD sponsorship, approval, or endorsement of a political candidate, campaign, or cause.”

However, this does not apply to personal belongings, and having a president or other leader sign a piece of memorabilia is not punishable. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also clarified that the hats and other things that Trump signed were not given to the troops.

Some airmen got selfies with both Pres and Mrs Trump, or got him to sign their MAGA caps. pic.twitter.com/vQG1EVFrta

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) December 27, 2018

Trump is not the only president to sign memorabilia. There are multiple pictures of former President Barack Obama signing pictures for troops, but he did not face any criticism for it at the time.