--- title: Marcus Luttrell: Navy SEAL Speaks at RNC description: Marcus Luttrell, the star of the 2013 film Lone Survivor, will speak in support of Trump on Monday at the Republican National Convention canonical: https://time.com/4411598/marcus-luttrell-rnc-donald-trump/ author: Will Drabold article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-19T00:28:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:20:24.863Z article:section: Politics og:title: Meet the Navy SEAL Speaking In Support of Donald Trump at the RNC og:description: He founded the Lone Survivor Foundation in 2010 og:url: https://time.com/4411598/marcus-luttrell-rnc-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt041f4c8378eeb8c3/69889c6df887dc0e9be96a99/05431189.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3636 og:image:height: 2045 og:image:alt: Marcus Luttrell og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Meet the Navy SEAL Speaking In Support of Donald Trump at the RNC twitter:description: He founded the Lone Survivor Foundation in 2010 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt041f4c8378eeb8c3/69889c6df887dc0e9be96a99/05431189.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Meet the Navy SEAL Speaking In Support of Donald Trump at the RNC > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=96a964bc-4af3-4787-9d08-9d2f5294a15a&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Jul 19, 2016 12:28 AM UTC  Former navy Seal Marcus Luttrell speaks during the second session during the first day of the 2016 Republican National Convention at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, July 18, 2016. Former navy Seal Marcus Luttrell speaks during the second session during the first day of the 2016 Republican National Convention at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, July 18, 2016. Andrew Gombert—EPA by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Jul 19, 2016 12:28 AM UTC A Texan [who began training for the Navy SEALS at 14](http://marcusluttrell.com/bio/), Marcus Luttrell has become a media personality and supporter of conservative political causes. He spoke in support of Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention Monday night. Luttrell’s story as the only soldier to emerge alive from an extended 2005 battle with the Taliban in Afghanistan’s eastern mountains was popularized by the book _Lone Survivor_. In 2013, Mark Wahlberg played Luttrell [in a movie](http://entertainment.time.com/2014/01/10/lone-survivor-the-true-story/) of the same name that grossed [$125 million.](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=lonesurvivor.htm) The real Luttrell appeared briefly in the movie. He also launched the [Lone Survivor Foundation](http://lonesurvivorfoundation.org/about-us/) in 2010 to help wounded veterans heal and reintegrate into society. Since the movie’s commercial success, Luttrell has supported former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential race. Last month, he [said on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/The.Official.Marcus.Luttrell.Fanpage/photos/a.67292163405.71985.63643878405/10153831980673406/?type=3&theater) that he spent Father’s Day with Trump and Perry in Texas. The Texan identifies as a member of self-created “Team Never Quit” and has built a social media following through his display of a tough, resilient persona. Luttrell’s speech at the Republican National Convention comes during the first day’s “Make America Safe Again” theme. The day also focuses attention on the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State. Republicans have long said Clinton’s handling of the attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi shows she is unfit to be commander-in-chief. But a GOP House-led committee [found no new wrongdoing by Clinton](http://time.com/4385411/read-benghazi-committee-report/) in a report released last month. The presence of a decorated and nationally recognized war hero will be used by Republicans to present Trump, their nominee, as the person best prepared to handle threats from abroad. The convention comes in the wake of another [terrorist attack in France](http://time.com/4409765/nice-attack-political-fallout-sarkozy-estrosi/) and [another shooting of police in the U.S.](http://time.com/4409654/baton-rouge-police-shooting/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4411598/marcus-luttrell-rnc-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4411598/marcus-luttrell-rnc-donald-trump/"},"headline":"Meet the Navy SEAL Speaking In Support of Donald Trump at the RNC","datePublished":"2016-07-19T00:28:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:20:24.863Z","description":"He founded the Lone Survivor Foundation in 2010","url":"https://time.com/4411598/marcus-luttrell-rnc-donald-trump/","keywords":["Republican National Convention","RNC"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt041f4c8378eeb8c3/69889c6df887dc0e9be96a99/05431189.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Will Drabold","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/will-drabold/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt041f4c8378eeb8c3/69889c6df887dc0e9be96a99/05431189.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Marcus Luttrell","caption":"Former navy Seal Marcus Luttrell speaks during the second session during the first day of the 2016 Republican National Convention at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, July 18, 2016.","creditText":"Andrew Gombert—EPA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/republican-national-convention/","name":"Republican National Convention"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4411598/marcus-luttrell-rnc-donald-trump/","name":"Meet the Navy SEAL Speaking In Support of Donald Trump at the RNC"}}]}] ```