Trump Tells Soldier's Widow "He Knew What He Signed Up For"

Photo: US Army

Donald Trump has been called "insensitive" after telling the widow of a soldier killed in an ambush in Niger that "he knew what he signed up for".

The US President reportedly made the comment during a telephone call with the wife of Army Sgt La David Johnson, who is expecting the couple's third child.

Sgt Johnson was among the four US Green Berets killed when they came under fire from suspected al-Qaeda militants in southwest Niger.

Their deaths were the first American casualties on the mission. 

Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, was in a car with Sgt Johnson's widow, Myeshia, when Trump phoned, shortly before his casket arrived in Miami. 

In an interview with CNN, she said:

"Basically he said, 'Well, I guess he knew what he signed up for, but I guess it still hurt'."

Speaking to Miami station WPLGm, Ms Wilson said "To me, that is something that you can say in a conversation, but you shouldn't say that to a grieving widow. That's so insensitive."

The Democratic Congresswoman from Florida said the call lasted about 3-5 minutes and the only words spoken by the widow to Mr Trump were "thank you" at the end.

Mrs Johnson has a six-year-old daughter, two-year-old son and is expecting a third child in January.

Sgt Johnson was a driver assigned to 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) based out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. 

Footage shows the casket arriving at Miami International airport, draped in the American flag. 

Mr Trump has been criticised for not reaching out straight away to relatives of the four killed in Niger.

On Monday, he said he had written letters that had not yet been mailed. His aides said they had been awaiting information before proceeding.

The incident came after Mr Trump provoked a row by suggesting his predecessors as president failed to meet families of military personnel killed in war.

"Most of them didn't make calls," he said of his predecessors.

He said it was possible that Mr Obama "did sometimes" but "other presidents did not call".

The record is plain that presidents reached out to families of the dead and to the wounded, often with their presence as well as by letter and phone.

George W Bush called or met "hundreds, if not thousands" of family members of the war dead, and even at the height of two wars, "wrote all the families of the fallen", said his spokesman Freddy Ford.

Barack Obama's official photographer, Pete Souza, tweeted that he photographed Mr Obama "meeting with hundreds of wounded soldiers, and family members of those killed in action".