Trump has not contacted at least 9 families of the 43 soldiers killed in action during his presidency

At least nine families of the 43 soldiers killed in action during the Trump administration have not been contacted by the President – a revelation that will add to the furore surrounding his alleged insensitivity to the widow of a Green Beret who lost his life in Niger.

The Associated Press contacted all of those Gold Star families – relatives of US military members who died in battle – and of those who were willing to answer questions, nine said they had no contact while nine said they had received a phone call or letter from Donald Trump.

Mark Hunter said he was “disappointed that he at least didn’t call and thank me for my son and our ultimate sacrifice”, after his 23-year-old son Army Sergeant Jonathon Hunter was killed in Afghanistan in August of this year.

The family did speak with Vice President Mike Pence, who grew up in the same southern Indiana city, at the ceremony honouring the return of the soldier’s remains at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

But Mr Hunter said he would have preferred to hear from the commander-in-chief.

Another botched call was to the father of Army Sergeant Dillon Baldridge, also killed in Afghanistan, this past June.

Chris Baldridge actually spoke with the President, who went on to promise the Gold Star father a cheque for $25,000 of his own money to help, but according to the Washington Post, the money never arrived.

The newspaper later reported the White House confirmed: “The cheque has been sent.”

It is unclear why Mr Trump offered a personal check for that amount when family members of fallen soldiers are eligible for payments the Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI) scheme.

The White House has not offered comment on why these nine families have not been contacted as yet.

The recent controversy began with the deaths of Staff Sergeants Bryan Black, Jeremiah Johnson, Dustin Wright and Sergeant La David T Johnson, who were patrolling with Niger troops when they were ambushed by militants thought to be affiliated with Isis.

Mr Trump was silent on the matter for 12 days until he was asked a question about it during a press conference with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

Mr Trump had suggested that he was rare among presidents in that he either wrote to or spoke with relatives of service members killed in action.

Bonnie Carroll, the founder and president of a Washington DC-based organisation working to help those who have lost a military loved ones, called the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), told The Independent that past presidents have used a “variety of ways” to communicate with Gold Star families – not just phone calls, on which Mr Trump focused.

“If you look at president Obama and other presidents – most of them didn’t make calls. A lot of them didn’t make calls,” Mr Trump had said. He later sought to walk the claim back, though did not apologise for his error when it was pointed out.

Former Obama administration staff and cabinet members were swift in their reactions, with former deputy chief of staff Alyssa Mastromonaco calling him a “f***ing liar” on Twitter.

Gold Star families also spoke up about how presidents George W Bush and Mr Obama consoled, called, and wrote to them.

Ms Carroll said what is important to these families is not the method used to communicate, but that “the president acknowledges the life and service of their loved one, and expresses gratitude on behalf of the nation.”

Controversy was sparked when Mr Trump reportedly called the pregnant widow of one of the soldiers killed in Niger, Mr Johnson, and said: “You know, he must’ve known what he signed up for.”

The details of the conversation between the President and Myeshia Johnson were revealed by Florida Congresswoman Federica Wilson on CNN.

Ms Wilson said: “When [Ms Johnson] got off the phone, she said, ‘He didn’t even know his name. He kept calling him, ‘Your guy.’”

Mr Trump vehemently denied the Congresswoman’s interpretation of the conversation and White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders later commented that “just because the President said ‘your guy’, I don’t think that means he doesn’t know his name”.

But Mr Johnson’s mother, Cowanda Jones-Johnson told the Washington Post that Mr Trump did “disrespect” her son and the rest of their family.

Mr Trump also went on Fox News Radio and said “to the best of my knowledge, I think I’ve called every family of somebody that’s died, and it’s the hardest call to make ... As far as other representatives, I don’t know, I mean you could ask General Kelly, did he get a call from Obama?”

He was referring to when White House Chief of Staff and retired Marines General John Kelly’s son Robert, a Marine Second Lieutenant, was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2010.

Mr Kelly was the highest-ranking military official to lose a child in the Iraq or Afghanistan wars. A White House official claimed to NBC News that Mr Kelly never received a call from Mr Obama after his son’s death.

However, the younger Kelly was married at the time of his death so per protocol any phone call would have gone to his wife and not his parents.

Ms Carroll said going forward for the President, “there is no right or wrong way to express one’s condolences; what matters is that we honour the life and the sacrifice, and provide support for all grieving families”.