Soldier’s widow says president struggled to recall Johnson’s name

WASHINGTON — The widow of one of four soldiers killed in Niger went on television Monday to criticize President Donald Trump for how he spoke to her during a condolence call last week, drawing a swift denial from Trump, who breathed new life into a bitter controversy that has transformed a tragedy into a political feud.

Myeshia Johnson, whose husband, Sgt. La David T. Johnson, was killed early this month in an attack that is under investigation by the U.S. military, said the president had blundered through the condolence call he made to her last week, only deepening her grief because he did not seem to know her husband’s name.

“The president said, ‘He knew what he signed up for, but it hurts anyway,’” Johnson said during an interview with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos. “It made me cry because I was very angry at the tone in his voice and how he said it.”

She said Trump’s memory seemed to falter during their exchange.

“He couldn’t remember my husband’s name,” Johnson said. “The only way he remembered my husband’s name is because he told me he had my husband’s report in front of him and that’s when he actually said ‘La David.’ I heard him stumbling on trying to remember my husband’s name. And that’s what hurt me the most because if my husband is out here fighting for our country, and he risked his life for our country, why can’t you remember his name?”

Last week, Trump denied saying Johnson had known what he signed up for, but John Kelly, the president’s chief of staff — and who is himself the father of a Marine killed in action — told reporters Trump had said those words. Kelly said that message had provided solace to him when he received the news of his son’s death.

On Monday, even as White House officials conceded privately they had to find a way to move beyond the episode, Trump refused to back down, posting a message on Twitter that contradicted Johnson’s account after her interview was broadcast.

“I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!” Trump said in his message.

The president’s response seemed certain to keep alive the extraordinary squabble, which erupted a week ago when Trump was asked about the deadly ambush in Niger and asserted wrongly that previous presidents had not called the families of U.S. troops killed in action. He then proceeded to call relatives of the soldiers killed in Niger, only to have Rep. Frederica S. Wilson, D-Fla., who listened to Trump’s conversation with Johnson, criticize the president publicly for his words.