WASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump is defending his call to a fallen soldier\u2019s widow, saying he was \u201crespectful\u201d and did not forget the slain soldier\u2019s name. The widow says Trump\u2019s tone in the phone call angered her and that the president \u201ccouldn\u2019t remember my husband\u2019s name.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Monday\u2019s exchange was the latest in an ongoing dispute over how Trump responded to news that four service members were killed in the African nation of Niger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump addressed the call on Twitter Monday after Myeshia Johnson, La David Johnson\u2019s widow, appeared on ABC\u2019s \u201cGood Morning America.\u201d It was Myeshia Johnson\u2019s first interview after a Democratic congresswoman accused Trump of being callous in the call by telling the widow that her husband \u201cknew what he signed up for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump had accused Rep. Frederica Wilson of fabricating the statement. Trump in other tweets called her \u201cwacky\u201d and accused her of \u201cSECRETLY\u201d listening to the phone call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Johnson confirmed Wilson\u2019s account on Monday, saying the congresswoman was a longtime friend who was with the family in the car when Trump called and listened on speakerphone. She said she had asked for the call to be put on speakerphone so relatives with her could hear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe president said that he knew what he signed up for but it hurts anyway,\u201d Johnson said. She added: \u201cThe only way he could remember my husband\u2019s name was he told me he had my husband\u2019s report in front of him and that\u2019s when he actually said La David.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Twitter, Trump said: \u201cI had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The four U.S. soldiers were killed Oct. 4 in Niger when they were attacked by militants tied to the Islamic State. The political conflict has steadily escalated for a week, with Wilson attacking the administration and the president firing off insulting tweets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
White House Chief of Staff John Kelly entered the fray Thursday. The retired Marine general asserted that the congresswoman had delivered a 2015 speech at an FBI field office dedication in which she \u201ctalked about how she was instrumental in getting the funding for that building,\u201d rather than keeping the focus on the fallen agents for which it was named. Video of the speech contradicted his recollection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wilson on Sunday asked Kelly to apologize. Speaking on MSNBC\u2019s \u201cAM Joy,\u201d she called Kelly a \u201cpuppet of the president\u201d and accused him of character assassination<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Donald Trump is defending his call to a fallen soldier\u2019s widow, saying he was \u201crespectful\u201d and did not forget the slain soldier\u2019s name. The widow says Trump\u2019s tone in the phone call angered her and that the president \u201ccouldn\u2019t remember my husband\u2019s name.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":60556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":70,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news"],"primary_category":""},"4":{"categories":["your-air-force","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"your-air-force"},"6":{"categories":["your-marine-corps","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"your-marine-corps"},"7":{"categories":["your-navy","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"your-navy"}}},"categories":[100,12,25,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2899],"class_list":["post-29467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"F64JGBQWVJCJJEWLQKXSEVJLCA","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-army\/2017\/10\/23\/trump-defends-call-to-fallen-soldiers-widow\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n