*Donald Trump on Monday wrongly claimed that former President Obama and other past presidents didn’t call the families of fallen soldiers.
At an impromptu news conference on Monday, Trump was asked about his silence on the four Green Berets that were killed last week during an ambush in Niger. It was the deadliest combat incident involving U.S. troops since he took office.
Trump said that he does plan to call the parents and families of those who were killed, something he said he has done “traditionally.”
He then quickly pivoted to such calls in general.
“The toughest calls I have to make are the calls where this happens– soldiers are killed. It’s a very difficult thing. Now it gets to a point where you make four or five of them in one day, it’s a very, very tough day. For me that’s by far the toughest,” he said.
“So the traditional way, 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.”
“So generally, I would say that I like to call,” he continued. “I’m going to be calling them, I want a little time to pass.”
Watch below:
Trump on soldiers killed in Niger: “President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls … I call when it’s appropriate.” pic.twitter.com/sgj5iEuDhz
— Axios (@axios) October 16, 2017
Several questions later, after Twitter exploded with pushback, Trump was told that former aids to Obama were calling his claims false. The president then said he was “told” Obama didn’t often call the families of slain soldiers.
