Well, in yet another testament to Donald Trump’s remarkable propensity to say and do things without any appreciation of the likely ramifications, families of dead soldiers are now coming out of the woodwork to share their own experiences (or lack thereof) with a President who on Monday claimed that his predecessors didn’t call the loved ones of fallen service members.
To be clear, the story here isn’t so much that Trump did or didn’t call someone or that Trump did or didn’t say something stupid when he actually did bother to call. I mean obviously that’s the only thing that matters for the families and widows in question, but it would make little sense to document each and every instance of Trump screwing up one of these calls because i) not every call is going to go perfectly even if you’re a good President, and ii) this is Donald Trump we’re talking about, a man who thinks rising stock prices reduce the national debt, so it’s not exactly “news” that he would accidentally insult someone on a phone call.
Rather, the story here is that this represents Trump creating problems for himself that not only didn’t exist previously, but that, barring some kind of truly epic boondoggle, would have had no chance of ever becoming an issue. There is zero chance that anyone would scrutinize his calls to grieving relatives and widows if he hadn’t started this on Monday. Furthermore, it almost undoubtedly would have blown over quicker had he not pulled the John Kelly stunt on Tuesday.
Panning out still further, you have to look at this in context: this is why he can’t get anything done in terms of legislation. He cannot stop himself from turning everything into a referendum on his presidency versus that of Barack Obama. And it is absolutely killing this country (figuratively for now, but if he gets his way on health care, it’s going to be something akin to literally).
The reason we wanted to clear that up is because there’s a tendency for people to not understand why the media tears into him. This behavior is a pattern and it has implications for things that affect all Americans and indeed, people all over the world. So it’s not so much about “let’s embarrass Donald Trump today” as it is about “look how Donald Trump has embarrassed himself again today and let’s put this in the context of a pattern of behavior that is jeopardizing national security, public policy, and, in the final analysis, things like world peace and the environment.”
With that, the Washington Post is out reporting that back in June, Trump called Chris Baldridge, the father of Army Cpl. Dillon Baldridge who died in an ambush in Afghanistan, and promised to write him a personal check for $25,000. Here’s the Post:
Chris Baldridge, the father of Army Cpl. Dillon Baldridge, told The Washington Post that Trump called him at his home in Zebulon, N.C., a few weeks after his 22-year-old son and two fellow soldiers were gunned down by an Afghan police officer in a suspected insider attack June 10. Their phone conversation lasted about 15 minutes, Baldridge said, and centered for a time on the father’s struggle with the manner in which his son was killed.
“I said, ‘Me and my wife would rather our son died in trench warfare,’ “ Baldridge said. “I feel like he got murdered over there.”
[…]
In his call with Trump, Baldridge, a construction worker, expressed frustration with the military’s survivor benefits program. Because his ex-wife was listed as their son’s beneficiary, she was expected to receive the Pentagon’s $100,000 death gratuity – even though “I can barely rub two nickels together,” he told Trump.
The president’s response shocked him.
“He said, ‘I’m going to write you a check out of my personal account for $25,000,’ and I was just floored,” Baldridge said. “I could not believe he was saying that, and I wish I had it recorded because the man did say this. He said, ‘No other president has ever done something like this,’ but he said, ‘I’m going to do it.’ ”
Well, guess what? Trump never sent the damn check. Trump also reportedly promised to set up an online fundraiser for the family but that never happened either.
Of course the White House is furious with this story and when contacted by the Post said the following:
The check has been sent. It’s disgusting that the media is taking something that should be recognized as a generous and sincere gesture, made privately by the President, and using it to advance the media’s biased agenda.
They’re right. It is kinda disgusting and in all honesty, we’re not entirely sure the Post should have written this story. But here’s the thing (and be honest with both us and yourself here): what do you think the chances are that Trump had sent that check before this story broke today? The chances are zero. Further, is it realistic to think that check would ever be mailed had this story not been published? Of course not.
And it didn’t stop there. Here’s AP, also out this afternoon:
But AP found relatives of four soldiers who died overseas during Trump’s presidency who said they never received calls from him. Relatives of two also confirmed they did not get letters.
And proof is plentiful that Barack Obama and George W. Bush – saddled with far more combat casualties than the roughly two dozen so far under Trump – took painstaking steps to write, call or meet bereaved military families.
Is this coverage “fair” to Trump? Almost certainly not. At least not in terms of going out and tracking down people to see if anyone has a negative story to tell.
That said, this coverage is entirely fair as part of an effort to paint a broader picture of a President that is so consumed with himself that he ends up saying things that create national and sometimes international incidents. That’s the problem. And that’s why these stories should be reported.
Finally, note that quote from the Post piece: “‘No other president has ever done something like this,’ but he said, ‘I’m going to do it.’”
Again: it’s always – always – about him.
Oh, and one more thing, the mother of the solider whose widow Trump supposedly insulted has confirmed Rep. Frederica Wilson’s account of the phone call.
not even surprised at this point. This guy is a clown.