Trump, in a personal phone call to a grieving military father, offered him $25,000 and said he would direct his staff to establish an online fundraiser for the family, but neither happened, the father has said.
Chris Baldridge, the father of Army Sgt. Dillon Baldridge, said that Trump called him at his home in Zebulon, NC a few weeks after his 22-year-old son and two fellow soldiers were fatally shot by an Afghan police officer in June. Their phone conversation lasted about 15 minutes, and centered for a time on the father's struggle with the manner in which his son was killed-- shot by someone he was training.
"I said, "Me and my wife would rather our son died in trench warfare,' " Baldridge said. "I feel like he got murdered over there."
Trump's officer of money to salve the wounds of the family, adds a dimension to the way he is (or is not) about to empathize and relate to the families of fallen troops. The disclosure follows questions about how often Trump has called or written to the parents or spouses of those killed.
In a response to press queries regarding the incident, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said, "The check has been sent. It's disgusting that the media is taking something that should be recognized as a generous and since gesture, made privately by the President, and using it to advance the media's biased agenda." Sounds like the bitter words of something cold busted for not following through on their promises.
At least 20 Americans have been killed in action since Trump became commander in chief in January. In defense against accusations of insensitivity to Gold Star families, Trump said this week that he has "called every family of somebody that's died, and it's the hardest call to make.".
However, the Washington Post has been able to contact the families of 13 of the 20 killed, and only about half had received phone calls. They others said they had not heard or received letters from the president.
Trump has been on the defensive since details emerged of his shocking comments to the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, who was killed along with three other soldiers in Niger. After ignoring the incident for twelve days, Trump lied about previous presidents, saying they never or rarely called the families of fallen service members. In fact, they did so regularly.
In that phone cal to Sgt. Johnson's widow, Trump told her that her husband "knew what he was signing up for, but I guess it hurts anyway." FL Representative Frederica Wilson (a friend of the Johnson family) was invited by the widow to listen in via the speakerphone and was aghast at Trump's lack of empathy.
Trump denied the allegations of Mrs. Johnson and Rep. Wilson, saying that Wilson had "totally fabricated" what happened and that he had "proof." The soldier's childhood guardian, Cowanda Jones-Johnson, later confirmed that she was also in the car during the conversation and said that Trump "did disrespect my son and my daughter and also me and my husband." Trump later doube-downed on his denial, saying that he did not say what Wilson had alleged and that "she knows it."
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