Donald Trump sparks fury after telling pregnant widow of soldier he 'knew what he signed up for'

David Gardner19 October 2017

President Donald Trump faced fresh condemnation today for telling the grief-stricken widow of a soldier who died serving his country that he “knew what he signed up for”.

Mr Trump made the remark in a five-minute call to pregnant Myeshia Johnson to offer his condolences over the death of her husband, La David, one of four US Special Forces troops killed in Niger.

He reportedly said that 25-year-old Johnson “knew what he signed up for ... but when it happens it hurts anyway”.

The Florida family was “astonished”, said Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, who was sitting next to the widow when she took the call as she drove to Miami airport to collect her husband’s remains yesterday.

Despair: Myeshia Johnson sobs over the coffin of her husband La David

“Yes, he said it,” she said. “It’s so insensitive. He should have not have said that. He shouldn’t have said it.

“It was almost like saying, ‘You signed up to do this, and if you didn’t want to die, shouldn’t have signed up,’” she added.

“I wanted to curse him out,” the congresswoman said. “I asked the family to give me the phone so that I could, but they wouldn’t.”

The sergeant and three fellow soldiers were killed by Islamic State-linked fighters ion October 4. His body had to be left behind and it took two days before it was recovered, according to US Africa Command. The president’s failure to comment publicly on the tragedy for 12 days after the deaths provoked a firestorm of criticism.

When he finally broke his silence, Mr Trump claimed wrongly that past presidents often did not call the families of fallen soldiers.

Soldier: La David Johnson

His comments triggered an angry denunciation from former Obama deputy chief of staff Alyssa Mastromonaco, who called Mr Trump as “a deranged animal”.

Mrs Johnson was later filmed sobbing as she leaned over her husband’s flag-draped coffin.

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