Trump Admits He Never Called Families of Soldiers Killed 12 Days Ago but Will ‘When I Think I’m Able’

Former Top Obama Aide Blasts Trump as a ‘Deranged Animal’ for Falsely Claiming Other Presidents Didn’t Call Families of Fallen Soldiers

Trump on Monday told reporters he “will at some point” call the families of the four soldiers killed 12 days ago in Niger, but hasn’t yet because they are “the toughest calls I have to make” and it’s “a very difficult thing” to have to do. He says he likes to call “when I think I’m able to do it,” but clearly he just admitted he does not call the families every time a U.S. soldier is killed in action. Trump has claimed NFL players taking a knee to silently protest police killings of Black people were disrespecting the military.

The Commander-in-Chief also set off a firestorm by lying, claiming other Presidents didn’t call the families of fallen soldiers.

Alyssa Mastromonaco, for one, is not putting up with Trump’s offensive lie. A former top aide to President Barack Obama, Mastromonaco took to Twitter moments after President Trump lied in a clear attempt to divert attention from his admission that he has not called the families.

Calling the Commander-in-Chief a “deranged animal” for his remarks at Monday’s unexpected 40-minute press conference, Mastromonaco said it is “a f*cking lie…to say president obama (or past presidents) didn’t call the family members of soldiers killed in action.”

Mastromonaco would know: she served as President Obama’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations for three years, and had worked for then-Senator Obama since 2005. Her tweet has been retweeted over 13,000 times in just over an hour.

“I’ve written them personal letters,” Trump claimed, insisting those letters have “been sent, or they’re going out tonight, but they were written during the weekend.” 

“I will at some point during the period of time call the parents and the families,” the president promised. “Because I have done that, traditionally. I felt very, very badly about that. I always feel badly. It’s the toughest, the toughest calls I have to make are the calls where this happens, soldiers are killed. It’s a very difficult thing,” he said.

It’s more difficult for the families who have lost a loved one in service to their country. And it’s more difficult for them to not even be acknowledged by the Commander-in-Chief.

“It gets to a point where, you know, you make four or five of them in one day, it’s a very, very tough day,” Trump lamented. “For me, that’s by far the toughest. 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.”

That’s false.

“I like to call when it’s appropriate, when I think I’m able to do it. They have made the ultimate sacrifice. So, generally, I would say that I like to call. I’m going to be calling them. I want a little time to pass, I’m going to be calling them. I have, as you know, since I’ve been president, I have. But in addition, I actually wrote letters individually to the soldiers we’re talking about, and they’re going to be going out either today or tomorrow.”

Also in Monday’s press conference, Trump blasted NFL players like Colin Kaepernick for taking a knee to protest police killings of Black people and racial oppression. The president said taking a knee is like sitting, “for our great national anthem.” He added, “you’re disrespecting our flag and you’re disrespecting our country” by silently protesting to help support racial equality.

For nearly two weeks many have been wondering why Trump has made no mention of the four soldiers killed in action in Niger. Many were surprised to earn the U.S. was sending troops there, and many have been comparing Trump’s and the GOP’s response to the four soldiers killed in action to the GOP’s years of multi-million dollar investigations into the killings of four Americans in Benghazi, and wondering why the soldiers killed in Niger didn’t get the same attention.

Trump himself has tweeted 67 times about Benghazi, not once about the four soldiers killed in Niger.

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