Trump Falsely Claims Obama Didn’t Contact Families of Fallen Troops
WASHINGTON — President Trump falsely asserted on Monday
that his predecessor, Barack Obama, and other presidents did not contact the families of American troops killed in duty, drawing a swift, angry rebuke from several of Mr. Obama’s former aides.
Several former Obama administration officials recalled the former president’s walks through Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery, where the dead from Iraq
and Afghanistan are buried, his visits to the wounded at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and the time he spent with families of the fallen at the White House and around the country.
“If you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls,” Mr. Trump said
during a news conference in the Rose Garden with the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell.
While he did not explain why he had not called their families, Mr. Trump said he had written letters to
the family members over the weekend, which he said would be mailed later in the day or on Tuesday.
At a news conference projecting Republican unity, President Trump spoke about four Green Berets killed in Niger, and made false claims
that his predecessors did not call the families of fallen soldiers.
