'It kind of angers me': Veterans speaking out against Trump's 'really disturbing' VA cuts

MSNBC reporter Melanie Zanona and U.S. Air Force veteran Luke McMahon on June 6, 2025

On Friday — which is the 81st anniversary of the United States' pivotal D-Day storming of Normandy, France during World War II – U.S. military veterans demonstrated on the National Mall against President Donald Trump's proposed cuts to the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA).

MSNBC reporter Melanie Zanona told host Katy Tur that Trump's attempts to "downsize the federal government" through mass layoffs of VA staff has prompted veterans to speak out. 61 year-old veteran Kenny Blizzard told Zanona that the targeting of the VA "kind of angers me."

"It makes me feel sad for all those that really need these benefits and need the VA to help them, and their families," Blizzard said. "Because this is the way now that they're taking care of their families. So it makes me feel like we could do better."

Air Force Veteran Luke McMahon also said the VA is "important" to both himself and his family, telling MSNBC that his father "spent his last days in a VA hospital."

"[He] managed to have his last days there with dignity thanks to the hard work of a lot of these government employees that were let go as a result of these different budget cuts," he said. "It's really, really disturbing to me because we've been underfunded for years to begin with. And obviously you're not doing anyone a service by taking something that's already struggling and taking more away."

Zanona noted that the proposed White House budget for the VA would increase overall funding, and that a VA spokesperson said that no benefits will be cut from the agency's budget. However, the Trump administration has said it plans to fire approximately 83,000 employees at the VA, which represents roughly 15% of the agency's total workforce.

"[Veterans] already feel like the agency is underfunded and overlooked," Zanona said. "And so there's a lot of concern about the potential impact of those cuts. And that's why they're here today, calling on Congress and the White House to keep their commitment to veterans."

Watch the full segment below, or by clicking this link.

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