President Trump’s reactions to the deaths of U.S. service members early in his presidency struck members of his staff, who noted the “how much time and emotional energy” he spent comforting the families, according to Bob Woodward’s new book.
It also led him to fudge the details of service records in an effort to tell families what they “wanted to hear,” according to a copy of “Fear: Inside the Trump White House,” obtained by the Washington Examiner.
Trump had traveled to Dover, Del., to greet the body of fallen Navy SEAL Ryan Owens, who was killed in a special operations raid in Yemen in February, 2017. A commander pulled the president aside to explain how it might play out.
“According to what Trump told his senior staff later, the commander said: I want to prepare you for this, Mr. President. When you walk in, the family is going to come up to you. It will be an experience like no other. You’re the commander in chief. The respect they show to you, and their grieving, will be incredible. You’ll be there to comfort them. When the plane rolls up, when the flag-draped casket comes down, some of the family are going to lose it and they will lose it very badly. On the other hand, be prepared to have some people say something inappropriate, even harsh.
“No one said anything harsh, but there was a definite coldness that the president remembered.
‘”That’s a hard one,’ he said afterward. He was clearly rattled. He let it be known he would make no more trips to Dover.”
Owens’ father, Bill, was at Dover with his wife and declined to meet with Trump.
“‘I’m sorry,’ Owens told the chaplain. ‘I don’t want to meet the president. I don’t want to make a scene about it, but my conscience won’t let me talk to him.'”
Later, the book details how Trump had to make phone calls to families of other fallen service members from the Oval Office.
“He’s not that guy,” former chief strategist Steve Bannon is quoted as saying. “He’s never really been around the military. He’s never been around [a] military family. Never been around death.”
The deaths of service members with small children hit him hard, the book said. “That had a big impact on him, and it’s seen throughout everything.”
The book details one instance in which staffers watched Trump, armed with service records, attempt to comfort Gold Star family members over the phone.
“‘l’m looking at his picture — such a beautifuI boy,’ Trump said in one call to family members. ‘Where did he grow up? Where did he go to school? Why did he join the service?
“‘I’ve got the record here,’ Trump said. ‘There are reports here that say how much he was loved. He was a great leader.'”
The book goes on to note that others in the Oval Office had copies of the records. “None of what Trump cited was there,” the book says. “He was just making it up. He knew what the families wanted to hear.”
The story serves as a stark contrast with the public battle between Trump, Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., and the family of Army Sgt. La David Johnson last October. Wilson and Johnson’s family members said Trump was rude to Johnson’s widow Myeshia Johnson on the phone, saying “he knew what he signed up for.”
The White House accused Wilson and the Johnson family of making up the story.
“Democrat Congresswoman totally fabricated what I said to the wife of a soldier who died in action (and I have proof). Sad!” Trump tweeted.
In another instance, Trump took three months to issue a $25,000 personal check to Chris Baldridge, father of Army Sgt. Dillon Baldridge, who was killed in Afghanistan. Trump dated the check Oct. 18, the same day that the Washington Post questioned the administration on the payment. Trump had promised to send the check in July 2017.
