President Donald Trump tweeted Friday that the decision allowing Bowe Bergdahl not to serve prison time is a “complete and total disgrace.”
He tweeted, “The decision on Sergeant Bergdahl is a complete and total disgrace to our Country and to our Military.”
Trump’s tweet comes after news that Bergdahl received a dishonorable discharge from the US Army but will avoid prison time for desertion and misbehavior before the enemy after abandoning his outpost in Afghanistan in 2009, a military judge ruled Friday.
The judge also ruled that Bergdahl’s rank be reduced from sergeant to private. Additionally, he will be required to pay a $1,000 fine from his salary for the next 10 months.
The Army soldier, who the Taliban held for five years after he deserted his Afghanistan outpost, pleaded guilty last month to the charges.
Bergdahl was released in May 2014 in a controversial exchange for five Guantanamo Bay detainees.
Trump has never been a fan of Bergdahl — in March 2017, he called Bergdahl a “dirty, rotten traitor.”
When asked in the Rose Garden last month if his past comments have affected Bergdahl’s ability to have a fair trial, Trump said he couldn’t comment due to ongoing sentencing decisions, “but I think people have heard my comments in the past.”