The more I've thought about this, I've decided that I'll buy what Fox News reported, which is that he said that guys who went to and died in Vietnam were suckers. That definitely sounds like something he'd say, particularly because he probably sees himself as really smart for getting out of it (bone spurs).
Trump, like any bully, makes insults not just to put down opponents but also inflate his own ego. I've seen a lot of people believe the quote based on what he said about McCain, but I think he made the statements he did about McCain not because he thinks poorly of troops generally, but because he hated John McCain specifically. Thus, I doubt he made a general statement that war dead were losers and suckers, but I do buy he made a statement that guys who died in a war that he was clever enough to get out of were losers and suckers.
And you're right, the areas of the media that hate him (which is considerable) sat on the story for 2 years, waited until 2 months before an election before writing a story on it, and dressed up the quote a bit to make it sound even worse than it was.
