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Trump to Widow of Soldier Killed in Niger: “He Knew What He Signed Up For”

HeadlineOct 18, 2017

In Florida, the widow of U.S. Army Sgt. La David Johnson, Myeshia Johnson, wept over the casket of her husband as his body arrived at Miami International Airport Tuesday ahead of a funeral planned for the weekend. Sgt. Johnson was one of four U.S. soldiers killed in an ambush during a patrol in Niger on October 4—a raid that President Trump did not publicly acknowledge until a reporter confronted him about it this week. On Tuesday, Florida Congressmember Frederica Wilson said Trump called Myeshia Johnson as she was accompanying her family to the airport in a car. The congressmember said she heard Trump say over a speakerphone, “He knew what he signed up for … but when it happens, it hurts anyway.” In response, Wilson told the Miami Herald, “I think it’s so insensitive. It’s crazy. Why do you need to say that? You don’t say that to someone who lost family, the father, the breadwinner. You can say, ’I’m so sorry for your loss. He’s a hero.’ I’m livid.”

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