Politics and the fallen: Trump hasn't called all families
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has pulled bereaved military families into a painful political fight of his own making, going so far Tuesday as to cite the death of his chief of staff's son in Iraq to question whether Barack Obama and other presidents did enough to honor the military dead.
He's boasted that "I think I've called every family of someone who's died," though AP found relatives of two soldiers who died overseas during Trump's presidency who said they never received a call or a letter from him.
The White House said he did telephone on Tuesday the families of four soldiers who were killed in Niger nearly two weeks ago, the issue that had spawned the controversy this week.
"He offered condolences on behalf of a grateful nation and assured them their family's extraordinary sacrifice to the country will never be forgotten," said a White House statement.
Contending that Trump's propensity for a political fight has drifted into "sacred" territory, Democrats and some former government officials have expressed anger at his comments that he, almost alone among presidents, called the families of military members killed in war. They accused him of "inane cruelty" and a "sick game."
For their part, Gold Star families, which have lost members in wartime, told AP of acts of intimate kindness from two presidents — Obama and George W. Bush — when those commanders in chief consoled them.
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