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Trump reaches out to families of U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan
Politics
Trump reaches out to families of U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan
By Matt Viser and Josh Dawsey
Yesterday at 4:52 p.m. EDT
When Darin Hoover traveled to Dover Air Force Base to receive the casket of his 31-year-old Marine son, who was killed in Afghanistan, he, like several other families, declined an offer to meet with President Biden.
But out of the blue last week his cellphone rang, and he instantly recognized the voice on the other line: Donald Trump.
“It was just very cordial, very understanding. He was awesome,” Hoover said, recalling the conversation. “He was just talking about the finest of the finest. He said he heard and saw everything that we had said, and he offered his condolences several times, and how sorry he was.”
The past two weeks have put on display not only a nation divided about a 20-year war and its messy withdrawal but also a nation whose politics do not allow it to grieve together. Some families opted to not meet with or hear from Biden at all, while others have been publicly critical of him and have resisted having any further dialogue with the president.
{snip}
Annie Linskey contributed to this report.
By Matt Viser
Matt Viser is a national political reporter for The Washington Post. He joined the paper in October 2018. He was previously the deputy chief of the Washington Bureau for the Boston Globe, where he covered Congress, the presidential campaigns in 2012 and 2016, and John Kerry’s tenure as secretary of state. Twitter https://twitter.com/mviser
By Josh Dawsey
Josh Dawsey is a political enterprise and investigations reporter for The Washington Post. He joined the paper in 2017 and previously covered the White House. Before that, he covered the White House for Politico, and New York City Hall and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for the Wall Street Journal. Twitter https://twitter.com/jdawsey1
Trump reaches out to families of U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan
By Matt Viser and Josh Dawsey
Yesterday at 4:52 p.m. EDT
When Darin Hoover traveled to Dover Air Force Base to receive the casket of his 31-year-old Marine son, who was killed in Afghanistan, he, like several other families, declined an offer to meet with President Biden.
But out of the blue last week his cellphone rang, and he instantly recognized the voice on the other line: Donald Trump.
“It was just very cordial, very understanding. He was awesome,” Hoover said, recalling the conversation. “He was just talking about the finest of the finest. He said he heard and saw everything that we had said, and he offered his condolences several times, and how sorry he was.”
The past two weeks have put on display not only a nation divided about a 20-year war and its messy withdrawal but also a nation whose politics do not allow it to grieve together. Some families opted to not meet with or hear from Biden at all, while others have been publicly critical of him and have resisted having any further dialogue with the president.
{snip}
Annie Linskey contributed to this report.
By Matt Viser
Matt Viser is a national political reporter for The Washington Post. He joined the paper in October 2018. He was previously the deputy chief of the Washington Bureau for the Boston Globe, where he covered Congress, the presidential campaigns in 2012 and 2016, and John Kerry’s tenure as secretary of state. Twitter https://twitter.com/mviser
By Josh Dawsey
Josh Dawsey is a political enterprise and investigations reporter for The Washington Post. He joined the paper in 2017 and previously covered the White House. Before that, he covered the White House for Politico, and New York City Hall and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for the Wall Street Journal. Twitter https://twitter.com/jdawsey1
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