"title"=>"Trump ignites furor with claim past presidents didn’t console military families by phone",
"summary"=>"
![\"\"](\"http://d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/newshour/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/RTS1FFJ2-e1508278998533-200x160.jpg\")
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JUDY WOODRUFF: Now: new questions surrounding the deaths of four Green Berets in the Western African nation of Niger and the role of the president as consoler in chief.
\nJohn Yang has the story.
\nJOHN YANG: Sending young Americans into harm’s way can be the most serious decision a president makes. Consoling the families of the fallen has become the latest controversy to engulf President Trump.
\nTo bolster his claim that he does more than his predecessors, Mr. Trump today invoked the dead son of his chief of staff, retired Marine general John Kelly.
\nPRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: To the best of my knowledge, I think I have called every family of somebody that’s died. Now, as far as other representatives, I don’t know. I mean, you could ask General Kelly, did he get a call from Obama?
\nJOHN YANG: Kelly’s 29-year-old son, Robert, a Marine lieutenant, was killed in 2010 when he stepped on a land mine in Afghanistan, an episode Kelly rarely talks about publicly. Kelly and his wife did attend a 2011 Memorial Day breakfast President Obama hosted for Gold Star families.
\nPresident Trump ignited the furor when he was asked about his public silence on four Green Berets killed two weeks ago in Niger.
\nPRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: If you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls. A lot of them didn’t make calls. I like to call when it’s appropriate, when I think I’m able to do it.
\nJOHN YANG: Reporters pressed him to back up the claim.
\nPRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I don’t know. That’s what I was told. All I can do — all I can do is ask my generals.
\nJOHN YANG: The response from former Obama officials was swift and forceful.
\nFormer Attorney General Eric Holder tweeted this photo and insisted: “Stop the damn lying. I went to Dover Air Force base with 44 and saw him comfort families,” a reference to one of Mr. Obama’s late-night trips to pay his respects to troops killed in Afghanistan.
\nMr. Obama and President George W. Bush often visited wounded warriors at Walter Reed and Bethesda hospitals, a practice Mr. Trump has continued. In February, the president and his daughter Ivanka went to Dover for the return of the remains of a Navy SEAL killed in Yemen, the first casualty of his administration.
\nSo far this year, the Pentagon says 16 Americans have been killed in action. Another 17 sailors died in accidents. In the first year of the Obama presidency, 344 were killed in action.
\nDuring last year’s campaign, Mr. Trump publicly feuded with the Khans, the parents of a Muslim American soldier killed in Iraq, after they criticized him at the Democratic Convention.
\nToday, the Khans said: “President Trump’s selfish and divisive actions have undermined the dignity of the high office of the presidency.”
\nThe current controversy comes as questions are being raised about how and why the four soldiers died in Niger.
\nSenator Jack Reed is the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee.
\nSEN. JACK REED, D-R.I.: I think the administration has to be much more clear about our role in Niger and our role in other areas in Africa and other parts of the globe.
\nJOHN YANG: The Pentagon is investigating the deaths. Reportedly among the questions, did commanders adequately assess the risk, and was there ready access to medical support?
\nToday, President Trump called the families of the four dead Green Berets.
\nFor the PBS NewsHour, I’m John Yang.
\nThe post Trump ignites furor with claim past presidents didn’t console military families by phone appeared first on PBS NewsHour.
\n","content"=>"
JUDY WOODRUFF: Now: new questions surrounding the deaths of four Green Berets in the Western African nation of Niger and the role of the president as consoler in chief.
\nJohn Yang has the story.
\nJOHN YANG: Sending young Americans into harm’s way can be the most serious decision a president makes. Consoling the families of the fallen has become the latest controversy to engulf President Trump.
\nTo bolster his claim that he does more than his predecessors, Mr. Trump today invoked the dead son of his chief of staff, retired Marine general John Kelly.
\nPRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: To the best of my knowledge, I think I have called every family of somebody that’s died. Now, as far as other representatives, I don’t know. I mean, you could ask General Kelly, did he get a call from Obama?
\nJOHN YANG: Kelly’s 29-year-old son, Robert, a Marine lieutenant, was killed in 2010 when he stepped on a land mine in Afghanistan, an episode Kelly rarely talks about publicly. Kelly and his wife did attend a 2011 Memorial Day breakfast President Obama hosted for Gold Star families.
\nPresident Trump ignited the furor when he was asked about his public silence on four Green Berets killed two weeks ago in Niger.
\nPRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: If you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls. A lot of them didn’t make calls. I like to call when it’s appropriate, when I think I’m able to do it.
\nJOHN YANG: Reporters pressed him to back up the claim.
\nPRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I don’t know. That’s what I was told. All I can do — all I can do is ask my generals.
\nJOHN YANG: The response from former Obama officials was swift and forceful.
\nFormer Attorney General Eric Holder tweeted this photo and insisted: “Stop the damn lying. I went to Dover Air Force base with 44 and saw him comfort families,” a reference to one of Mr. Obama’s late-night trips to pay his respects to troops killed in Afghanistan.
\nMr. Obama and President George W. Bush often visited wounded warriors at Walter Reed and Bethesda hospitals, a practice Mr. Trump has continued. In February, the president and his daughter Ivanka went to Dover for the return of the remains of a Navy SEAL killed in Yemen, the first casualty of his administration.
\nSo far this year, the Pentagon says 16 Americans have been killed in action. Another 17 sailors died in accidents. In the first year of the Obama presidency, 344 were killed in action.
\nDuring last year’s campaign, Mr. Trump publicly feuded with the Khans, the parents of a Muslim American soldier killed in Iraq, after they criticized him at the Democratic Convention.
\nToday, the Khans said: “President Trump’s selfish and divisive actions have undermined the dignity of the high office of the presidency.”
\nThe current controversy comes as questions are being raised about how and why the four soldiers died in Niger.
\nSenator Jack Reed is the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee.
\nSEN. JACK REED, D-R.I.: I think the administration has to be much more clear about our role in Niger and our role in other areas in Africa and other parts of the globe.
\nJOHN YANG: The Pentagon is investigating the deaths. Reportedly among the questions, did commanders adequately assess the risk, and was there ready access to medical support?
\nToday, President Trump called the families of the four dead Green Berets.
\nFor the PBS NewsHour, I’m John Yang.
\nThe post Trump ignites furor with claim past presidents didn’t console military families by phone appeared first on PBS NewsHour.
\n","author"=>"PBS NewsHour",
"link"=>"http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/trump-ignites-furor-claim-past-presidents-didnt-console-military-families-phone/",
"published_date"=>Tue, 17 Oct 2017 22:40:11.000000000 UTC +00:00,
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"created_at"=>Sun, 31 Mar 2024 21:43:07.758083000 UTC +00:00,
"updated_at"=>Mon, 13 May 2024 18:47:21.078594000 UTC +00:00,
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