- Mar 11, 2015
- 95,934
- 81,716
- 3,645
Is this what you want for a president? Remember this is the man who ranted about disrespect for the military when blacks took knees in protest of police violence.
In April 2020, Vanessa GuillĂ©n, a 20-year-old Army private, was bludgeoned to death by a fellow soldier at Fort Hood, in Texas. The killer, aided by his girlfriend, burned GuillĂ©nâs body. GuillĂ©nâs remains were discovered two months later, buried in a riverbank near the base, after a massive search.
GuillĂ©n, the daughter of Mexican immigrants, grew up in Houston, and her murder sparked outrage across Texas and beyond. Fort Hood had become known as a particularly perilous assignment for female soldiers, and members of Congress took up the cause of reform. Shortly after her remains were discovered, President Donald Trump himself invited the GuillĂ©n family to the White House. With GuillĂ©nâs mother seated beside him, Trump spent 25 minutes with the family as television cameras recorded the scene.
In the meeting, Trump maintained a dignified posture and expressed sympathy to GuillĂ©nâs mother. âI saw what happened to your daughter Vanessa, who was a spectacular person, and respected and loved by everybody, including in the military,â Trump said. Later in the conversation, he made a promise: âIf I can help you out with the funeral, Iâll helpâIâll help you with that,â he said. âIâll help you out. Financially, Iâll help you.â
Natalie Khawam, the familyâs attorney, responded, âI think the military will be payingâtaking care of it.â Trump replied, âGood. Theyâll do a military. Thatâs good. If you need help, Iâll help you out.â Later, a reporter covering the meeting asked Trump, âHave you offered to do that for other families before?â Trump responded, âI have. I have. Personally. I have to do it personally. I canât do it through government.â The reporter then asked: âSo youâve written checks to help for other families before this?â Trump turned to the family, still present, and said, âI have, I have, because some families need help ⊠Maybe you donât need help, from a financial standpoint. I have no idea whatâI just think itâs a horrific thing that happened. And if you did need help, Iâm going toâIâll be there to help you.â
A public memorial service was held in Houston two weeks after the White House meeting. It was followed by a private funeral and burial in a local cemetery, attended by, among others, the mayor of Houston and the cityâs police chief. Highways were shut down, and mourners lined the streets.
Five months later, the secretary of the Army, Ryan McCarthy, announced the results of an investigation. McCarthy cited numerous âleadership failuresâ at Fort Hood and relieved or suspended several officers, including the baseâs commanding general. In a press conference, McCarthy said that the murder âshocked our conscienceâ and âforced us to take a critical look at our systems, our policies, and ourselves.â
According to a person close to Trump at the time, the president was agitated by McCarthyâs comments and raised questions about the severity of the punishments dispensed to senior officers and noncommissioned officers.
In an Oval Office meeting on December 4, 2020, officials gathered to discuss a separate national-security issue. Toward the end of the discussion, Trump asked for an update on the McCarthy investigation. Christopher Miller, the acting secretary of defense (Trump had fired his predecessor, Mark Esper, three weeks earlier, writing in a tweet, âMark Esper has been terminatedâ), was in attendance, along with Millerâs chief of staff, Kash Patel. At a certain point, according to two people present at the meeting, Trump asked, âDid they bill us for the funeral? What did it cost?â
According to attendees, and to contemporaneous notes of the meeting taken by a participant, an aide answered: Yes, we received a bill; the funeral cost $60,000.
Trump became angry. âIt doesnât cost 60,000 bucks to bury a fucking Mexican!â He turned to his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and issued an order: âDonât pay it!â Later that day, he was still agitated. âCan you believe it?â he said, according to a witness. âFucking people, trying to rip me off.â
Khawam, the family attorney, told me she sent the bill to the White House, but no money was ever received by the family from Trump. Some of the costs, Khawam said, were covered by the Army (which offered, she said, to allow Guillén to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery) and some were covered by donations. Ultimately, Guillén was buried in Houston.
www.theatlantic.com
THIS, is disrespect of the military. Done by the man some of you want to be president. It is further proof of his racism. and of his racism towards the blacks who peacefully protested by taking a knee during the anthem. And this is just prt of it.
Trump: âI Need the Kind of Generals That Hitler Hadâ
In April 2020, Vanessa GuillĂ©n, a 20-year-old Army private, was bludgeoned to death by a fellow soldier at Fort Hood, in Texas. The killer, aided by his girlfriend, burned GuillĂ©nâs body. GuillĂ©nâs remains were discovered two months later, buried in a riverbank near the base, after a massive search.
GuillĂ©n, the daughter of Mexican immigrants, grew up in Houston, and her murder sparked outrage across Texas and beyond. Fort Hood had become known as a particularly perilous assignment for female soldiers, and members of Congress took up the cause of reform. Shortly after her remains were discovered, President Donald Trump himself invited the GuillĂ©n family to the White House. With GuillĂ©nâs mother seated beside him, Trump spent 25 minutes with the family as television cameras recorded the scene.
In the meeting, Trump maintained a dignified posture and expressed sympathy to GuillĂ©nâs mother. âI saw what happened to your daughter Vanessa, who was a spectacular person, and respected and loved by everybody, including in the military,â Trump said. Later in the conversation, he made a promise: âIf I can help you out with the funeral, Iâll helpâIâll help you with that,â he said. âIâll help you out. Financially, Iâll help you.â
Natalie Khawam, the familyâs attorney, responded, âI think the military will be payingâtaking care of it.â Trump replied, âGood. Theyâll do a military. Thatâs good. If you need help, Iâll help you out.â Later, a reporter covering the meeting asked Trump, âHave you offered to do that for other families before?â Trump responded, âI have. I have. Personally. I have to do it personally. I canât do it through government.â The reporter then asked: âSo youâve written checks to help for other families before this?â Trump turned to the family, still present, and said, âI have, I have, because some families need help ⊠Maybe you donât need help, from a financial standpoint. I have no idea whatâI just think itâs a horrific thing that happened. And if you did need help, Iâm going toâIâll be there to help you.â
A public memorial service was held in Houston two weeks after the White House meeting. It was followed by a private funeral and burial in a local cemetery, attended by, among others, the mayor of Houston and the cityâs police chief. Highways were shut down, and mourners lined the streets.
Five months later, the secretary of the Army, Ryan McCarthy, announced the results of an investigation. McCarthy cited numerous âleadership failuresâ at Fort Hood and relieved or suspended several officers, including the baseâs commanding general. In a press conference, McCarthy said that the murder âshocked our conscienceâ and âforced us to take a critical look at our systems, our policies, and ourselves.â
According to a person close to Trump at the time, the president was agitated by McCarthyâs comments and raised questions about the severity of the punishments dispensed to senior officers and noncommissioned officers.
In an Oval Office meeting on December 4, 2020, officials gathered to discuss a separate national-security issue. Toward the end of the discussion, Trump asked for an update on the McCarthy investigation. Christopher Miller, the acting secretary of defense (Trump had fired his predecessor, Mark Esper, three weeks earlier, writing in a tweet, âMark Esper has been terminatedâ), was in attendance, along with Millerâs chief of staff, Kash Patel. At a certain point, according to two people present at the meeting, Trump asked, âDid they bill us for the funeral? What did it cost?â
According to attendees, and to contemporaneous notes of the meeting taken by a participant, an aide answered: Yes, we received a bill; the funeral cost $60,000.
Trump became angry. âIt doesnât cost 60,000 bucks to bury a fucking Mexican!â He turned to his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and issued an order: âDonât pay it!â Later that day, he was still agitated. âCan you believe it?â he said, according to a witness. âFucking people, trying to rip me off.â
Khawam, the family attorney, told me she sent the bill to the White House, but no money was ever received by the family from Trump. Some of the costs, Khawam said, were covered by the Army (which offered, she said, to allow Guillén to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery) and some were covered by donations. Ultimately, Guillén was buried in Houston.
Trump: âI Need the Kind of Generals That Hitler Hadâ
The Republican nomineeâs preoccupation with dictators, and his disdain for the American military, is deepening.
www.theatlantic.com
THIS, is disrespect of the military. Done by the man some of you want to be president. It is further proof of his racism. and of his racism towards the blacks who peacefully protested by taking a knee during the anthem. And this is just prt of it.
Last edited:
