President Trump spoke with the families of U.S. soldiers killed during a mission in Niger, a day after he made the controversial claim that previous administrations “didn’t often” call military families grappling with the loss of loved ones.
“President Trump spoke to all four of the families of those who were killed in action in Niger,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a written statement on Tuesday. “He offered condolences on behalf of a grateful nation and assured them their family’s extraordinary sacrifice to the country will never be forgotten.”
Four U.S. soldiers were killed by enemy fire during a reconnaissance patrol earlier in October.
Military assets have been stationed in the West African country as part of an advise-and-assist mission with Nigerien forces.
The chief of the Army said last week that similar operations to train, advise and assist foreign troops would increase, despite the incident.
Trump’s outreach comes one day after he said previous administrations “didn’t often” call grieving military families, but instead wrote letters. Trump asserted that he does a “combination of both.”
“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,” Trump said Monday — a comment which elicited fierce backlash, including from former Obama aides.
