The Atlantic published a hit piece against former President Donald Trump on Tuesday, claiming that Trump was angry regarding the cost of a U.S. Army private’s funeral. The Atlantic has faced backlash from top Trump administration officials and the Army private’s sister for “exploiting” the soldier’s death.
In The Atlantic’s article, the outlet noted that 20-year-old U.S. Army private Vanessa Guillen, who was the daughter of Mexican immigrants, was killed in April of 2020 at Fort Hood in Texas. According to the outlet, Guillen was bludgeoned to death, and her body was burned and buried in a nearby river bank.
According to The Atlantic, Trump invited Guillen’s family to the White House after the Army private’s death and told Guillen’s mother, “I saw what happened to your daughter Vanessa, who was a spectacular person, and respected and loved by everybody, including in the military,” He also said, “If I can help you out with the funeral, I’ll help—I’ll help you with that. I’ll help you out. Financially, I’ll help you.”
The Atlantic claimed that during an Oval Office meeting in December of 2020, Trump asked if a bill had been received for Guillen’s funeral. The outlet said an aide told Trump the cost of the funeral was $60,000 and alleged that Trump responded, “It doesn’t cost 60,000 bucks to bury a f-cking Mexican,” and told his chief of staff not to pay the bill.
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In response to the hit piece against the former president, Vanessa Guillen’s sister, Mayra Guillen, tweeted, “Wow. I don’t appreciate how you are exploiting my sister’s death for politics- hurtful & disrespectful to the important changes she made for service members. President Donald Trump did nothing but show respect to my family & Vanessa. In fact, I voted for President Trump today.”
Alex Pfeiffer, a Trump spokesperson, issued a statement to The Atlantic, saying, “President Donald Trump never said that. This is an outrageous lie from The Atlantic two weeks before the election.”
The Atlantic reported that Pfeiffer also shared statements from Kash Patel, who served as the former chief of staff to Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, and from a spokesperson for former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, denying the allegations.
Patel’s statement read, “As someone who was present in the room with President Trump, he strongly urged that Spc. Vanessa Guillen’s grieving family should not have to bear the cost of any funeral arrangements, even offering to personally pay himself in order to honor her life and sacrifice.”
Patel explained that Trump was able to get the Defense Department to designate Guillen’s death as “occurring ‘in the line of duty'” to provide her with full military honors and allow her family to access additional assistance.
