U.S: TRUMP WAS INSENSITIVE TO WIDOW -SOLDIER'S MOTHER

The mother of a US soldier who was killed in action has backed a congresswoman's claim that President Donald Trump showed insensitivity during a phone call to her son's widow.

Representative Frederica Wilson said he had told Myeshia Johnson: "He knew what he was signing up for, but I guess it hurts anyway."

Mr Trump said Ms Wilson's account was "totally fabricated".

Sgt La David Johnson was killed in Niger by Islamist militants this month.

He was one four US special service soldiers who died in an ambush.

Mr Trump had already been criticised for not contacting the families of the dead servicemen right after the fatal ambush on 4 October.

Sgt Johnson's mother, Cowanda Jones-Johnson, backed Representative Wilson's account of the phone call.

"President Trump did disrespect my son and my daughter and also me and my husband," she told the Washington Post newspaper.

Ms Wilson told WPLG, a Miami TV station, she had heard the president's "so insensitive" remarks to the widow on speakerphone in a limousine.

"To me, that is something that you can say in a conversation, but you shouldn't say that to a grieving widow," she said.

"And everyone knows when you go to war, you could possibly not come back alive. But you don't remind a grieving widow of that."

Ms Wilson told the Washington Post that Ms Johnson, who is expecting the couple's third child, had broken down in tears after the conversation.

"He made her cry," Ms Wilson said.

The congresswoman told the newspaper that she had wanted to grab the phone and "curse him out", but an army sergeant who was holding the handset would not let her speak to the president.

Ms Johnson responded to Mr Trump's denial by tweeting: "I still stand by my account of the call b/t @realDonaldTrump and Myeshia Johnson. That is her name, Mr Trump. Not "the woman" or "the wife".

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