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Trump Told a Soldier’s Widow Her Husband ‘Knew What He Signed Up For,’ His Mother Says Trump Told a Soldier’s Widow Her Husband ‘Knew What He Signed Up For,’ His Mother Says
(about 4 hours later)
WASHINGTON — The mother of a soldier killed in an ambush in Niger said Wednesday that President Trump disrespected her family during a call with the man’s widow by saying the soldier “knew what he signed up for.” WASHINGTON — President Trump’s condolence call to the widow of a slain soldier exploded into an acrid row on Wednesday, with the man’s mother accusing the president of disrespecting her family and Mr. Trump complaining that his words had been cynically twisted for political purposes.
President Trump denied he said those words to Sgt. La David T. Johnson’s wife during a Tuesday phone call and escalated his dispute with Representative Frederica Wilson, Democrat of Florida, who first described the exchange on Tuesday. The president had told the widow of Sgt. La David T. Johnson, one of four Americans killed in an Oct. 4 ambush in Niger, that her husband “knew what he signed up for,” and he referred to the soldier only as “your guy,” according to Sergeant Johnson’s mother and a Democratic congresswoman, who both listened to the call.
Speaking before a meeting with members of the Senate Finance Committee, Mr. Trump said, “I had a very nice conversation with the woman, with the wife, who sounded like a wonderful woman.” He also asserted, “I didn’t say what that congresswoman said. Didn’t say it at all, she knows it.” Mr. Trump angrily disputed that account, insisting that he “had a very nice conversation with the woman, with the wife, who sounded like a lovely woman.” The White House accused the congresswoman, Frederica S. Wilson of Florida, who disclosed his comments, of politicizing a sacred ritual after Mr. Trump initially said she “fabricated” it.
Yet when asked about Ms. Wilson’s account of the call on Wednesday, Mr. Johnson’s mother, Cowanda Jones-Johnson, backed the congresswoman’s version. “Yes, he did state that comment,” Ms. Jones-Johnson said of Mr. Trump, corresponding via Facebook. The furious back-and-forth turned what is, even at the best of times, one of the most emotionally wrenching contacts between the commander in chief and a citizen into an ugly spectacle. It hijacked the White House’s agenda for the week and recalled Mr. Trump’s history of feuding with military families and, in the case of Senator John McCain, a war hero.
Pressed twice by reporters about Ms. Wilson’s description, Mr. Trump dared her to make the allegations again. “Let her make her statement again and then you’ll find out,” the president said. To a great extent, it was a self-inflicted wound that Mr. Trump opened Monday when he deflected a question about why he had not spoken publicly about the deaths of the soldiers by falsely accusing his predecessor, President Barack Obama, of not contacting the families of fallen troops.
The back and forth has angered many, including Representative Alcee Hastings, Democrat of Florida, who said Mr. Trump needs to stop disrespecting Mr. Johnson’s family. “My position is that the vapid, vacuous vessel that is Donald Trump’s brain produces lie after lie after lie,” Mr. Hastings said. “All of us see this and somebody needs to say to him, not just as it pertains to this issue, ‘Stop the damn lies.’” On Tuesday, Mr. Trump dragged his chief of staff, John F. Kelly, into the dispute by bringing to light that Mr. Obama had not called Mr. Kelly, a former Marine Corps general, when his son Second Lt. Robert Kelly was killed in 2010 in action in Afghanistan.
Ms. Wilson recounted details of Mr. Trump’s call with Sergeant Johnson’s widow, Myeshia Johnson. On Tuesday, Ms. Wilson was in the car with the widow, and said she overheard the phone call from the president, who was on speakerphone. Sergeant Johnson was killed in an ambush in Niger earlier this month that killed three other soldiers and injured two in the Army Special Forces Unit. The White House said Mr. Kelly was present for Mr. Trump’s call on Tuesday afternoon to Sergeant Johnson’s wife, Myeshia Johnson, and viewed it as an appropriate expression of condolences.
Ms. Wilson said that during the call, the president told Ms. Johnson “something to the fact that he knew what he was getting into when he signed up,” the congresswoman said in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Wednesday. “He took the time to make a call to express his condolences, to thank the family for this individual’s service,” the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said Wednesday. “I think it, frankly, is a disgrace of the media to try to portray an act of kindness like that and that gesture, and try to make it into something that it isn’t.”
“But that’s not the worst part,” Ms. Wilson said. “She was crying the whole time and when she hung up the phone she looked at me and said ‘he didn’t even remember his name.’ That’s the hurting part.” Asked on Wednesday about Ms. Wilson’s account of the call between the president and the widow, Mr. Johnson’s mother, Cowanda Jones-Johnson, backed the congresswoman’s version. “Yes, he did state that comment,” Ms. Jones-Johnson said of Mr. Trump, corresponding via Facebook.
Mr. Trump’s comments were the latest in a series of remarks he made this week drawing attention to grieving families of fallen soldiers. Pressed twice by reporters about Ms. Wilson’s description, Mr. Trump dared her to make the allegations again. But the back-and-forth has angered many, including Representative Alcee L. Hastings, Democrat of Florida, who said Mr. Trump needs to stop disrespecting Mr. Johnson’s family.
Mr. Trump took to Twitter early Wednesday and disputed the account. “My position is that the vapid, vacuous vessel that is Donald Trump’s brain produces lie after lie after lie,” Mr. Hastings said. “All of us see this and somebody needs to say to him, not just as it pertains to this issue, ‘Stop the damn lies.’”
Ms. Wilson said she was in the car with the soldier’s widow on Tuesday when Ms. Johnson spoke to Mr. Trump in a phone call that was put on speakerphone. Sergeant Johnson was a mechanic assigned to an Army Special Forces Unit that was ambushed during an counterterrorism operation in Niger. Three other soldiers were killed and two were injured in the attack.
Ms. Wilson said that during the call, the president told Ms. Johnson “something to the fact that he knew what he was getting into when he signed up,” the congresswoman said in an interview on Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“But that’s not the worst part,” Ms. Wilson said. “She was crying the whole time, and when she hung up the phone, she looked at me and said, ‘He didn’t even remember his name.’ That’s the hurting part.”
In a Twitter post early Wednesday, Mr. Trump disputed the account.
Mr. Trump did not say what proof he had.Mr. Trump did not say what proof he had.
Ms. Wilson said she stood by her description of the call.Ms. Wilson said she stood by her description of the call.
“I don’t know what kind of proof he could be talking about,” Ms. Wilson said on CNN’s “New Day.”“I don’t know what kind of proof he could be talking about,” Ms. Wilson said on CNN’s “New Day.”
She added, “I have proof, too.”She added, “I have proof, too.”
Later on Wednesday morning, Ms. Wilson pushed back against the president in a Twitter post.Later on Wednesday morning, Ms. Wilson pushed back against the president in a Twitter post.
Sergeant Johnson, 25, was from Miami Gardens, Fla., the Defense Department said. He and Ms. Johnson had two children, and Ms. Johnson is pregnant. The Pentagon has launched an investigation into the ambush in Niger. Sergeant Johnson, 25, was from Miami Gardens, Fla., the Defense Department said. He and Ms. Johnson had two children, and Ms. Johnson is pregnant. The Pentagon has started an investigation into the ambush in Niger.
Mr. Trump has said very little about the Niger episode. When he was asked by a reporter about this on Monday, he responded by saying he had written letters to the soldiers’ families. Mr. Trump compared his actions to past presidents and said past presidents have not always contacted families of those killed in action. Mr. Trump’s comments were the latest in a series of remarks he made this week drawing attention to grieving families of fallen solders, even as he has said very little about the Niger episode.
Mr. Trump singled out former President Barack Obama, saying he had not made such calls, an assertion that quickly drew angry rebukes from former Obama aides. On Monday, Trump said he had written letters to the slain soldiers’ families, and compared his actions to past commanders in chief, saying past presidents have not always contacted families of those killed in action. But he singled out Mr. Obama — saying his predecessor had not made such calls — and quickly drew angry rebukes and denials from former Obama aides.
In a radio interview on Tuesday, Mr. Trump suggested that Mr. Obama never called John Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general and now the White House chief of staff, when his son died in Afghanistan in 2010. In a radio interview on Tuesday, Mr. Trump suggested that Mr. Obama never called Mr. Kelly after his son died.
“You could ask General Kelly, ‘Did he get a call from Obama?’ ” Mr. Trump said in an interview on Fox News Radio. “I believe his policy was somewhat different than my policy. I can tell you my policy is I called every one of them.” “You could ask General Kelly — did he get a call from Obama?” Mr. Trump said in an interview on Fox News Radio. “I believe his policy was somewhat different than my policy. I can tell you my policy is I’ve called every one of them.”
Mr. Trump’s tweet rebutting Ms. Wilson’s account of the phone call was his sixth Twitter post on Wednesday morning and came after Ms. Wilson’s description was discussed on morning news shows. Mr. Trump often takes to Twitter with reactions to what he sees on television. Mr. Trump’s tweet rebutting Ms. Wilson’s account of the phone call was his sixth Twitter post on Wednesday morning and came after the congresswoman’s description was discussed on morning news shows. Mr. Trump often takes to Twitter with reactions to what he sees on television.
Mr. Trump’s first Twitter posts were about the former F.B.I. director, James Comey, as well as about his Democratic opponent in the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton, and the ongoing debate about professional football players kneeling during the national anthem.
“Total disrespect for our great country,” Mr. Trump wrote on Wednesday, referring to the football players.