White House Chief of Staff John Kelly told reporters he instructed President Donald Trump not to call the families of the four soldiers who were killed in action in Niger during a Thursday press conference.
“There’s no perfect way to make that phone call. When I took this job and talked to President Trump about how to do it, my first recommendation was he not do it because it’s not the phone call that that family members and parents are looking for. It’s nice to do in my opinion,” Kelly said.
WATCH:
Kelly’s comments comes one day after Democratic Rep. Fredrica Wilson of Florida incited controversy by listening in on Trump’s phone call with the widow of a U.S. serviceman killed in action in Niger in early October. Wilson accused Trump of being disrespectful during the call by saying the slain soldier “knew what he was getting into.” Trump publicly denied having made the comment.
“I didn’t say what that congresswoman said. Didn’t say it at all,” Trump told reporters during a meeting on tax reform in the Cabinet Room Wednesday. “She knows it. And she now is not saying it. I did not say what she said.”
Kelly explained that he cautioned Trump against calling the fallen soldier’s next of kin because he didn’t believe Trump could do anything to assuage their grief. Kelly, himself a gold star father and veteran, said he was “stunned” by Wilson’s decision to listen in on the call and then publicize its contents.
WATCH IN FULL HOW GENERAL JOHN KELLY SLAMS CONGRESSWOMAN WILSON
WATCH: GENERAL KELLY URGES AMERICANS TO REMEMBER WHAT IS ‘SACRED’
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