Oct 19, 2017 - Politics & Policy

Family members of fallen military speak out on Trump

Axios

Myeshia Johnson cries at the casket of her husband, Sgt. La David Johnson, 25, killed in an ambush in Niger, when his remains arrived in Miami on Tuesday. Photo: WPLG via AP.

Relatives of nine of the 43 military members who have died during Trump's presidency (21%) tell AP that they haven't heard from him.

Why it matters: Trump told Fox News Radio's "Brian Kilmeade Show' on Tuesday: "[T]o the best of my knowledge, I think I've called every family of somebody that's died ... I have called, I believe everybody but certainly I'll use the word 'virtually' everybody ... I've called virtually everybody."

"Despite Trump's boast that he reaches out personally to all families of the fallen, interviews with families members did not support his claim. Some never heard from him at all, and a few who did came away more upset."
AP "reached out to the families of all 43 people who have died in military service since Trump became president and made contact with about half the families. Of those who would address the question, relatives of nine said they had heard from Trump by phone or mail. Relatives of nine others said they haven't."
"Chris Baldridge of Zebulon, North Carolina, told The Washington Post that Trump promised him $25,000 of his own money when they spoke in the summer about the loss of his son, Army Sgt. Dillon Baldridge, killed in Afghanistan, but the check never came. The White House said [yesterday] that 'the check has been sent.'"

"After Army Sgt. Jonathon M. Hunter [23] died in a suicide bombing attack in Afghanistan in August ... Mark Hunter, his father, said a military casualty officer informed the family that Trump would call and the family was let down when he didn't."

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Family members of fallen military speak out on Trump

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