President Donald Trump (L), with First Lady Melania Trump (R), talks with Sergeant First Class Alvaro Barrientos (2-L), with his wife Tammy Barrientos (2-R), after awarding the Purple Heart to him during a visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on April 22, 2017 in Bethesda, Maryland. Shawn Thew/Getty Images President Donald Trump raised more than a few eyebrows during his first visit as president to Walter Reed National Medical Center on Saturday when he awarded the Purple Heart to Army Sergeant First Class Alvaro Barrientos.

"When I heard about this, I wanted to do it myself," Trump told Barrientos as he placed the Purple Heart on the soldier's lapel. "Congratulations … tremendous."

The medal is given to service members who were wounded or killed in battle.

Many on social media immediately criticized the president’s choice of words to the wounded soldier whose leg had to be amputated after he survived an attack in Afghanistan’s Helmland province.

This isn’t the first time the president has been criticized for remarks he made about the Purple Heart. During the campaign, a veteran gave the then-nominee his Purple heart.

"I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier," Trump said at the time.

Watch Trump award the Purple Heart below: