On Saturday at Dover Air Force Base in Kent County, Delaware, President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, Second Lady Usha Vance, and members of the President’s Cabinet attended the Dignified Transfer for the six U.S. military soldiers killed in a March 1 Iranian drone attack in Kuwait.
As seen below, President Trump wore a white golf hat with gold USA letters to the ceremony and kept it on. No other attendees, with the exception of military personnel, wore a hat.
Former RNC chairman Michael Steele responded on social media by writing: “This fool has ABSOLUTELY no sense of dignity or appreciation for the moment. It is called the Dignified Transfer for a reason. Take your damn hat off!!”
This fool has ABSOLUTELY no sense of dignity or appreciation for the moment. It is called the Dignified Transfer for a reason. Take your damn hat off!! pic.twitter.com/O0R5BOyHQU
— Michael Steele (@MichaelSteele) March 7, 2026
For those asking if Trump’s decision to wear a hat to the solemn ritual is normal, Grok — Elon Musk’s AI guide to X — answered, “No, no prior U.S. president has been documented wearing a baseball cap (or any hat) during a dignified transfer at Dover AFB. Obama (first president to attend, in 2009 and later) and Biden participated in formal suits/ties, saluting solemnly without headwear. Bush did not attend these ceremonies in the same public capacity.”
Others online also noted the President’s headwear. Former US Naval War College professor Tom Nichols, a writer at The Atlantic, reacted, writing: “The president is wearing a white golf cap. At Dover.”
The president is wearing a white golf cap. At Dover.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) March 7, 2026
Challenged online about his critique of the President’s choice, Nichols responded that he was not a fashion consultant while insisting that the occasion required more solemnity and respect.
I’m a grown man who knows not to wear a hat during this kind of event https://t.co/b9L5w3iWYZ
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) March 7, 2026
Note: This is not Trump’s first Dignified Transfer. Most recently, in December, without a baseball hat, he attending the dignified transfer at Dover Air Base honoring the two Iowa National Guard members and an interpreter killed in an attack in Syria.