The Washington Post on Thursday released a Gold Star widow’s phone call with President Donald Trump from April. The organization released Natasha De Alencar’s phone call as part of what it says is a larger story about Trump’s relationships with Gold Star families. The conversation about the President’s relationships with Gold Star families has taken center stage across the country, as one phone call with a recent Gold Star widow is being politicized by a Democratic congresswoman.
On April 8, Army Staff Sgt. Mark De Alencar was killed while fighting ISIS in Afghanistan. The Green Beret left behind his wife of 15 years and their five children.
On April 12, President Donald Trump called Natasha De Alencar, now a Gold Star widow, to offer his condolences.
Natasha De Alencar told The Washington Post that her phone call with the President was “a moment of niceness that we needed because we were going through hell.”
During the phone call, Trump tells Natasha De Alencar how sorry he is, and that her husband was “an unbelievable hero.”
Mark De Alencar died of injuries sustained during a firefight with ISIS in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. De Alencar was assigned to 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, based at Eglin Air Force Base, in Florida. De Alencar enlisted in the Army in 2009 and graduated from the Special Forces Qualification Course in 2016.
During their roughly four-minute phone conversation, Trump also invites Natasha De Alencar to the White House to visit him in the Oval Office if she is ever in Washington, D.C.
You can listen to the entire phone conversation here:
Recently, four U.S. service members – Sgt. La David Johnson, Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson and Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright – were killed on Oct. 4 in Niger, West Africa, when their 12-person team was ambushed.
Trump called Sgt. La David Johnson’s widow, Myeshia Johnson, this week, and it was widely reported that he said: “He knew what he signed up for … but when it happens, it hurts anyway.”
Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson, from Florida, on Tuesday told a local news affiliate about what Trump said during the phone call, saying it was “insensitive.” Wilson was in the car with Myeshia Johnson at the time of the call.
Trump has since said the congresswoman fabricated the story. La David Johnson’s mother said the President disrespected her family.
