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Martina Navratilova has again criticized U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump, who Forbes estimates is worth $5.5 billion, is in Saudi Arabia for his first official overseas trip since returning to office in January this year. The President is in Riyadh to secure investments for the US, and to help him do so, several heavyweight US businesses are accompanying him on the trip.
Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, along with representatives from Coca-Cola, Google, Boeing, Nvidia, and Chat-GPT, among others, are part of his entourage and are hoping to benefit from stronger relations with the Saudi government. Trump announced the visit after a January phone call with Crown Prince Mohammed, who promised to invest more than $600 billion in the US over the next four years.
Martina Navratilova, however, was unimpressed by the astronomical sums being proposed and instead expressed her disapproval of Trump greeting the Saudi generals. The President offered a salute, and Navratilova was quick to suggest on her X (formerly Twitter) account that Trump was merely being a sycophant, in her view. She wrote:
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"Cadet bone spurs does know how to kiss a**"
With her "cadet bone spurs" jibe, Martina Navratilova was referring to Donald Trump's famous avoidance of the US military draft when it was at war with Vietnam. In 1968, Trump was diagnosed with bone spurs in his heels, which excused him from service.
Martina Navratilova has often referred to Donald Trump's "bone spurs"
Martina Navratilova has been considered a leading liberal voice in the US, with 456,000 followers on X. With 18 Major singles titles in her tennis career, she has attained superstar status, which has helped amplify her platform to speak about various sociopolitical issues. A long-term critic of Donald Trump's character, as well as his government's policies, Navratilova has never expressed inhibitions about admonishing the president.
Navratilova has used the 'bone spurs' story to criticize Trump before. In February 2024, Trump made some comments about presidential candidate Nikki Haley's husband, who was serving overseas at the time. Navratilova replied on X:
"Cadet bone spurs making fun of a man serving our country. Yet again..."
Then, in July 2024, Donald Trump decided to drop out of a presidential debate against his democratic opponent, Camilla Harris. Navratilova considered his withdrawal as 'cowardice', and wrote on X:
"Coward Bone Spurs - what else can you expect?"
In her playing days, Martina Navratilova was an extraordinary athlete. She was ranked World No. 1 for 332 weeks as a singles player, and in doubles for 237 weeks, which is a record.
