Stop lying about war dead, angry critics tell Trump

President criticised after claiming predecessors failed to contact relatives of fallen US soldiers

DONALD TRUMP has been criticised by the relatives of fallen soldiers after he accused his predecessors in the White House of failing to call them after the deaths of their loved ones.

The US president was accused of an “outrageous and disrespectful lie” by one of Barack Obama’s former aides after spontaneously making the claim during a press conference.

The comments drew a backlash from relatives of America’s war dead who said Mr Obama and other former presidents who Mr Trump criticised had personally consoled them. Mr Trump’s comment came after he was pushed on why he had failed to comment on the deaths of four soldiers in Niger on Oct 4.

It has led to a heated debate about the president’s tendency to make what critics say are overblown and misleading statements when publicly challenged.

However, Mr Trump has refused to back down, urging reporters to talk to military figures including John Kelly, his chief of staff, to prove his point.

Last night the White House issued a statement confirming that Mr Trump had spoken to the families of the four soldiers killed in Niger. “He offered condolences on behalf of a grateful nation and assured them their family’s extraordinary sacrifice to the country will never be forgotten,” said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary. The row was ignited when, during a press conference, Mr Trump defended his record of writing and calling relatives of American soldiers killed in action. “If you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls. A lot of them didn’t make calls,” Mr Trump said.

“I like to call when it’s appropriate, when I think I’m able to do it. They have made the ultimate sacrifice, so generally I would say that I like to call.”

The comment triggered a backlash, with the president softening his claim when challenged a second time at the press conference but not abandoning it entirely. Sarah huckabee Sanders later said “the president wasn’t criticising predecessors, but stating a fact”. However, pictures soon circulated online of Mr Obama meeting the caskets of fallen troops as they returned from Afghanistan – something he was photographed doing dozens of times at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

Aides who worked for Mr Obama also took to social media. “This is an outrageous and disrespectful lie even by Trump standards,” said Ben Rhodes, Mr Obama’s foreign policy adviser. Alyssa Mastromonaco, a deputy chief of staff under Mr Obama, called Mr Trump a “deranged animal” while former attorney general Eric Holder wrote: “Stop the damn lying – you’re the president.”

There was also criticism from those linked to George W Bush, who oversaw the invasion of both Afghanistan and Iraq after the Sept 11 attacks.

♦ A US judge yesterday barred the White House from implementing the third version of Mr Trump’s executive order on immigration, hours before it was to go into full effect. Derrick Watson, the Hawaii federal judge, said the ban – covering people from six mainly Muslim countries, as well as North Korea and some officials from Venezuela – could not be justified under law.