White House responds to criticism of Trump invoking Kelly’s son

The White House on Wednesday defended President Trump’s decision to invoke the combat death of his chief of staff’s son as part of his claim that he’s been more responsive to the families of fallen soldiers than other presidents.

Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that she doesn’t know if Trump warned chief of staff John Kelly before bringing up his son in an interview.

“I think that Gen. Kelly is disgusted by the way that this has been politicized and that the focus has become on the process and not the fact that American lives were lost,” Sanders said at the White House press briefing.

“I think he’s disgusted and frustrated by that,” she said. “If he has any anger, it’s towards that.”

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Trump’s reference to Kelly’s son has garnered criticism from those who said it contradicted Kelly’s own wishes regarding his son’s death.

Sanders said that Trump and Kelly have spoken multiple times before and after Trump’s comments about Kelly’s son, Marine 2nd Lt. Robert Kelly, who died while serving in Afghanistan in 2010. She did not say whether they discussed Trump’s comments.

Trump on Tuesday said reporters should ask Kelly whether he ever received a phone call from former President Obama when his son died, bringing up the case as part of his defense that he has called more Gold Star families than his White House predecessors.  

A White House official confirmed that Kelly did not receive a call from Obama at the time. Kelly was invited to and attended a 2011 White House breakfast for families of soldiers killed in action.

Trump said earlier this week that other presidents, including Obama, never made calls to the families of fallen soldiers, arguing later that he has called “every family of someone who’s died.”

Obama administration officials denied the allegations about the former president, and some Gold Star families have told the media that they never heard from Trump.

The controversy over Trump’s calls to military families deepened when Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) accused Trump of disrespecting the widow of Army Sgt. La David Johnson, who recently died in action during a mission in Niger. According to Wilson, she was present during a call when Trump told the widow, Myeshia Johnson, that her late husband “knew what he signed up for.”

Trump and the White House have repeatedly denied the claim, but Johnson’s mother told The Washington Post that she was also present during the call and Wilson’s characterization is accurate.

When asked about the tenor of the call, Sanders argued that Kelly, a former lieutenant general and Gold Star parent himself, believed the president acted appropriately.

“Gen. Kelly was present for the call and thought it was completely appropriate,” she said.

“He thought the call was respectful and he thought that the president did the best job he could under those circumstances to offer condolences on the part of the country,” she continued.

The White House on Wednesday also said Trump has contacted every family where the soldier’s death followed the correct “process” of notification.