White House Chief Of Staff Confirms Trump Told Gold Star Family "He Knew What He Was Getting Into"

White House Chief of Staff John Kelly

This week, Donald Trump has been coping with yet another mess totally of his own making.

When asked about the four soldiers who were killed in action in Niger on October 4, Trump awkwardly segued in his response to noting that while he himself had contacted "every" family of fallen soldiers during his time in office, President Obama (and others before him) didn't call the families of fallen soldiers.

Apart from being inaccurate, it opened a whole Pandora's box of trouble for himself as the media has now found several gold star families who haven't heard from Trump.

And then, in making a call to one of the fallen Niger soldiers, Sgt. La David Johnson, he apparently said during the conversation, "He knew what he signed up for."

The wife of Johnson and Florida Congresswoman Frederica Wilson confirmed this telling the media it came across uncaring and disrespectful.

Just to be clear, Trump tweeted yesterday that Congresswoman Wilson "totally fabricated" her account of what she says she heard the president say.

Democrat Congresswoman totally fabricated what I said to the wife of a soldier who died in action (and I have proof). Sad!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2017

Now, "totally fabricated" would mean to me that not a single word was accurate.

But today, Chief of Staff John Kelly, a former Marine General whose own son was killed in action, took to the podium at the White House briefing and admitted he coached Trump using words that sound very much like what Wilson recalled Trump of saying.

From CNN:

White House chief of staff John Kelly, in an extraordinary and at times emotional statement Thursday, said he advised President Donald Trump on what to say before he called the families of the four fallen soldiers who died during an ambush in Niger. Kelly said from the White House briefing room that he advised Trump to offer similar words that Gen. Joseph Dunford offered to Kelly when his son was killed in Afghanistan.

“He was doing exactly what he wanted to do when he was killed. He knew what he was getting into by joining that 1%. He knew what the possibilities were because we were at war,” Kelly said, channeling Dunford’s words to him upon the death of Kelly’s son. “And when he died he was surrounded by the best men on this earth, his friends. That’s what the President tried to say to the four families the other day.”

"He knew what he was getting into by joining that 1%."

"He knew what he signed up for."

They sound a whole lot alike, no?

"Totally fabricated" is hardly the way I'd describe that.

I don't think Trump is evil - I think the problem is that Trump doesn't connect on this kind of a personal, intimate level. He took in what he heard Kelly say, but didn't know how to convey the empathy of the moment.

Watch Kelly explain, and verify Wilson's account, below.