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John Kelly

OnPolitics Today: That comment to a widow Trump denied making? Kelly claims he said it.

Josh Hafner
USA TODAY

President Trump claimed adamantly this week that he didn't tell the widow of a fallen soldier that her husband knew "what he signed up for," calling an account confirmed by the soldier's mother "totally fabricated."

Then, on Thursday, his chief of staff said that wasn't entirely true.

John Kelly defended Trump's call to the widow, Myeshia Johnson, during a White House press briefing. Kelly told reporters that Trump's words echoed those Kelly heard when his son died in Afghanistan, including words the president denied using earlier this week.

"He knew what he was getting into when he joined” the military. “And when he died he was surrounded by the best men on this Earth, his friends,” Kelly said.  “That’s what the president tried to say to the four families yesterday.” 

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