Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Trump said of murdered soldier ‘it doesn’t cost $60k to bury a f****** Mexican,’ report says

The claims, which the Trump campaign has strongly denied, appeared in an recent article published by The Atlantic

Mike Bedigan
New York
Tuesday 22 October 2024 23:57 EDT
Comments
Doug Emhoff calls out Trump’s insults towards Harris as ‘Trump-ian Fog’

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Donald Trump reportedly declared “it doesn’t cost 60,000 bucks to bury a f****** Mexican” after receiving the bill for a murdered soldier’s funeral which he had previously offered to pay.

The claims, which the Trump campaign has strongly denied, appeared in a recent article published by The Atlantic, which detailed the former president’s alleged disdain for members of the military.

Vanessa Guillén, a 20-year-old Army private, was bludgeoned to death in April 2020 by a fellow soldier at Fort Hood, in Texas and her burned remains were only discovered two months later.

Following the tragic incident, Trump invited Guillén’s family to the White House, where he described the young woman as a “spectacular person” and said he could help the family out “financially” and with funeral arrangements.

However, in a meeting in December 2020, Trump reportedly flew into a rage after being presented with a bill for $60,000. Attendees of the meeting told The Atlantic the former president said: “It doesn’t cost 60,000 bucks to bury a f****** Mexican!”

Vanessa Guillén, a 20-year-old Army private, was bludgeoned to death in April 2020 by a fellow soldier at Fort Hood, in Texas
Vanessa Guillén, a 20-year-old Army private, was bludgeoned to death in April 2020 by a fellow soldier at Fort Hood, in Texas (KHOU)

He also reportedly told his chief of staff at the time, Mark Meadows, not to pay the bill and later accused the family of “trying to rip me off,” per the outlet. A family lawyer told The Atlantic that no money from Trump was received.

In statements shared with The Independent, members of the Trump campaign and former staff members vehemently denied that such exchanges took place. “President Donald Trump never said that. This is an outrageous lie from The Atlantic two weeks before the election,” said Trump campaign adviser Alex Pfeiffer.

Trump also reportedly told his chief of staff at the time, Mark Meadows, not to pay the bill for Guillen’s funeral
Trump also reportedly told his chief of staff at the time, Mark Meadows, not to pay the bill for Guillen’s funeral (AP)

Kash Patel, former Pentagon Chief of Staff, who was reportedly in the room at the time of the alleged comments said: “Of course, President Trump didn’t say that. President Trump ensured that this victim received full military honors."

Patel added: “As someone who was present in the room with President Trump during that meeting… 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.

“In addition, President Trump was able to have the Department of Defense designate her death as occurring ‘in the line of duty,’ which gave her full military honors and provided her family access to benefits, services, and complete financial assistance.”

Meadows also refuted the claims, saying that they were “absolutely false.” “He was nothing, but kind, gracious, and wanted to make sure that the military and the US government did right by Vanessa Guillen and her family,” he said.

In addition, following the publication of the claims in The Atlantic, Mayra Guillen, sister of Vanessa Guillen, blasted the outlet for “exploiting my sister’s death for politics,” describing the piece as “hurtful and disrespectful.”

“President Donald Trump did nothing but show respect to my family & Vanessa. In fact, I voted for President Trump today,” she wrote on X.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in