Tag: Gold Star Families

Gold Star Families Getting Rushed Condolence Letters

The following article by John M. Donnelley was posted on the Roll Call website October 24, 2017:

The White House tried to quickly make the president’s overstatement accurate

Myeshia Johnson kisses the casket of her husband, U.S. Army Sgt. La David Johnson, during his burial service in Hollywood, Florida, on Saturday. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

A substantial number of families who have lost military servicemembers during the Trump presidency had not been contacted as of this weekend by President Donald Trump, despite his claim to the contrary several days earlier, according to news accounts.

And some of the families that the White House did contact were reached only in recent days by apparently rushed condolence letters that were sent in some cases months after the families lost their loved ones, the reports said.

Roll Call disclosed Friday that the White House had asked the Pentagon on Oct. 17, through emails, to provide “ASAP” a list of those killed in the line of duty and their families’ contact information. The email exchanges came just hours after the president had said in a radio interview that he had already contacted virtually all those families. Continue reading “Gold Star Families Getting Rushed Condolence Letters”

Trump’s unmoored week shows just how aimless he is

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website October 19, 2017:

President Trump’s response to the deaths of four soldiers in Niger is causing an uproar after Rep. Frederica S. Wilson (D-Fla) said he told Sgt. La David Johnson’s widow that her husband “knew what he was signing up for.” (Video: Jenny Starrs/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

President Trump’s most faithful supporters like to believe he’s always a step ahead of the media and the political establishment — that he’s playing three-dimensional chess while we’re stuck on checkers. Where we see utter discord, they see carefully orchestrated chaos.

This week should disabuse absolutely everybody of that notion. Continue reading “Trump’s unmoored week shows just how aimless he is”

‘Disrespectful lie’: Anger grows over Trump’s claims about past presidents and fallen troops

The following article by Travis M. Andrew was posted on the Washington Post website October 17, 2017:

During a news conference at the White House on Oct. 16, President Trump claimed that “most” American presidents, including Barack Obama, didn’t call families of soldiers who were killed in action. Former members of the Obama administration said this is false. (Reuters)

Anger sparked by President Trump’s false claims on Monday that Barack Obama and other past presidents did not reach out to families of fallen American troops swelled into the night. Continue reading “‘Disrespectful lie’: Anger grows over Trump’s claims about past presidents and fallen troops”