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 Afghanistan 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 The Associated Press found relatives of two soldiers who died overseas during Trump’s presidency who said they never received a call or a letter from him, as well as relatives of a third who did not get a call from him.
The White House said Trump 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.
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.
Trump’s posture has been defensive in recent days after he was criticized for not reaching out to relatives of the soldiers killed in Niger. On Monday, Trump said he’d written letters that hadn’t yet been mailed; his aides they were awaiting information on the soldiers before proceeding.
Then Trump stirred things further Tuesday on Fox News radio, saying, “You could ask General Kelly, did he get a call from Obama?” John Kelly, a Marine general under Obama, is Trump’s chief of staff. His son, Marine 2nd Lt. Robert Kelly, was killed in Afghanistan in 2010. John Kelly was not seen at Trump’s public events Tuesday.
Former Obama spokesman Ned Price tweeted: “Kelly, a man of honor & decency, should stop this inane cruelty. He saw up-close just how — & how much — Obama cared for the fallen’s families.”
And retired Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, once chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, tweeted that Bush, Obama and their wives “cared deeply, worked tirelessly for the serving, the fallen, and their families. Not politics. Sacred Trust.”
Trump initially claimed, in a news conference Monday, that only he among presidents made sure to call families. But that hasn’t happened.