"Now that's not coming off," Trump joked after tying the prestigious medal around the neck of Army Major Nicholas Dockery.

NEED TO KNOW

• Donald Trump tied the Congressional Medal of Honor ribbon for Army Major Nicholas Dockery after struggling to clasp it during a White House ceremony on June 18
• The ceremony honored Col. John W. Ripley posthumously, along with Dockery and Marine Corps Major James Capers
• Trump joked about awarding himself the Medal of Honor before presenting it to the recipients, saying, “I was informed I couldn’t do it”

U.S. President Donald Trump had a bit of an awkward moment at a recent White House ceremony.

While presenting the Congressional Medal of Honor to Army Major Nicholas Dockery at the White House on Thursday, June 18, he appeared to struggle to clasp the back of the medal together and ultimately ended up tying it around Dockery’s neck.

The moment was captured in a viral clip shared by KMPH Fox 26, which showed Trump taking about a minute to secure the blue ribbon, which held the medal, around Dockery’s neck.

After several seconds of being unable to snap the medal in place, he could then be seen taking both sides of the ribbon and tying it together. As he did this, he spoke a few words that were muffled in the clip as the audience gathered at the event chuckled.

Once he finally tied the ribbon securely around Dockery’s neck, Trump joked to the audience, “Now that’s not coming off now.” Dockery smiled as the audience also laughed before breaking out into applause. 

Photographer Tom Brenner showed a set of photos on Instagram of the Medal of Honor ceremony, including one that showed the medal fitted tightly around Dockery's neck, like a choker. Another close-up shot showed the medal tied in a knot behind his head.

The ceremony was held to honor Col. John W. Ripley posthumously, as well as Dockery and Marine Corps Major James Capers, for their extraordinary bravery and sacrifice.

Ahead of presenting the award, Trump joked to the audience, per Fox News, “Only a few have received our highest military distinction, the Congressional Medal of Honor. I wanted to give it to myself, but I was informed I couldn’t do it.”

“And I couldn’t find anything I was worthy [of]. So, here we are,” he added, as the audience chuckled.

This isn't the first time the president has joked about awarding himself the prestigious military honor. He previously teased that he wanted to give himself the Congressional Medal of Honor due to his 2018 visit to Iraq.

“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,” he said at the time.

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The Congressional Medal of Honor is "the nation’s most prestigious military decoration that may be awarded to recognize American armed forces personnel – U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marines, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Space Force, and U.S. Coast Guard – who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor in combat," according to the Congressional Gold Medal Society.

It is an extremely rare honor, with only 3,536 of the 40 million Americans who have served in the military receiving the medal since its establishment in 1861. It has historically been given posthumously, and a majority of recipients fought in the Civil War. Currently, there are only 65 living recipients.

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