March 28, 2024

‘Outrageous’: Admitting He Hasn’t Called Soldiers’ Families, Trump Lies that Predecessors Didn’t Either


Trump claimed on Monday that President Barack Obama and other former presidents didn’t call the families of fallen soldiers. The statement was met with outrage from former Obama staffers. (Photo: Twitter)


While admitting he has yet to send condolences to families of soldiers killed in Niger two weeks ago, Trump falsely claims his predecessors failed to do so.


By Julia Conley / 10.16.2017

In a press conference on Monday, President Donald Trump admitted he has not yet spoken to the families of the four Special Forces troops who were killed in an ambush in Niger on October 4—nearly two weeks ago—but assured reporters that he composed letters to them and plans to send them out “either today or tomorrow.”

While he wasn’t asked about his predecessors’ approach to contacting military families whose loved ones who have been killed in action, the president made sure to note that President Barack Obama and other former presidents didn’t make a habit of speaking with families—a claim for which he offered no evidence and which drew immediate criticism on social media.

As journalist Daniel Dale, the Toronto Star‘s Washington correspondent, noted, “Trump delivered the Obama smear in the middle of a mad ad-lib scramble to explain why he’d neglected his own duties. It’s a go-to move.”