President Trump offered to pay for the funeral of an Army soldier who was found dead after disappearing from Fort Hood in Texas.
“I don’t even know if you need help. Maybe you don’t need help from a financial standpoint,” Trump told the family of Spc. Vanessa Guillen while hosting them in the White House on Thursday, according to the New York Post. “I have no idea. I just think it’s a horrific thing that happened, and if you did need help, I’ll be there to help you.”
The president added that he has paid for the funerals of soldiers in the past.
“I have. I have. I have to do it personally. I can’t do it through government,” he said. “I have because some families need help. They need help.”
Guillen, 20, vanished from Fort Hood on April 22. Human remains were found almost a week later and were confirmed to be Guillen’s on July 6. Investigators said she was beaten to death with a hammer in a Fort Hood armory room before being moved off the base by the killer, who is believed to have been found dead after an apparent suicide.
Guillen’s family said she was sexually harassed on multiple occasions and was at the White House supporting legislation, backed by Trump, that would allow service members to report sexual misconduct to a third party. The bill is named #IamVanessaGuillen in her honor.
“I don’t want to hear another woman or another man was sexually harassed, assaulted, abused, and raped,” Guillen’s 16-year-old sister, Lupe Guillen, said Thursday. “Fort Hood’s leadership lacked respect, safety, and responsibility. They were responsible for my sister. Yet they’re sleeping every night. I haven’t slept in three months.”
Trump promised the family he will not allow Guillen’s death to be “swept under the rug” and was thanked in return by the family for agreeing to meet with them.
“And for everyone that said, ‘The president will never meet with you, you will never enter the White House,'” Lupe Guillen said. “Well, we just met him. We have his support.”
