ANKARA

US President Donald Trump said he once considered awarding himself the Congressional Medal of Honor for his December 2018 visit to US troops in Iraq, describing the trip as an act of bravery, media reports said on Thursday.

Speaking in Rome, Georgia, on Thursday, Trump recalled his surprise visit to Al Asad Air Force Base in Iraq’s Anbar province, according to People Magazine.

“I decided to go to Iraq. I was extremely brave. So brave in fact that I wanted to give myself the Congressional Medal of Honor,” Trump recalled.

“I said to my people, ‘Am I allowed to give myself the Congressional Medal of Honor?’” he added.

Trump acknowledged that the honor has been given to “so many guys that are seriously brave,” noting that many recipients suffered severe combat injuries.

“And I said that’s a little stretch if I gave myself one,” he said.

“It's one of those things, someday I'm going to try. I'm going to test the law,” he added, saying: “You know, I'm having fun.”

The Medal of Honor is described as “the nation’s most prestigious military decoration” awarded to members of the US armed forces who distinguish themselves “by acts of valor in combat,” according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

Only 3,528 of the roughly 40 million Americans who have served in the military have received the honor, and there are currently 61 living recipients.

Trump also recently said he deserved the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for resolving “seven unendable wars.”