Former President Donald Trump refused to pay for the funeral of a young army private even after guaranteeing that he would foot the bill directly to her family, later expressing frustration at how much the funeral costs amounted to, according to a report.
U.S. army soldier Vanessa Guillén was bludgeoned to death in 2020 by her supervisor, fellow soldier Aaron David Robinson when they were stationed at Texas' Fort Hood, Then-President Trump, who invited Guillén's family to the White House on July 30, 2020, was recorded repeatedly offering to pay for Guillén's funeral and help her family financially in any way he could on White House transcripts, reported The Atlantic.
"I saw what happened to your daughter Vanessa, who was a spectacular person, and respected and loved by everybody, including in the military," said Trump.
"If I can help you out with the funeral, I'll help—I'll help you with that," he said. "I'll help you out. Financially, I'll help you," he continued.
At a meeting months later with acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, and Miller's chief of staff Kash Patel, Trump inquired about whether or not Guillén's family had actually billed his administration for her funeral and how much it would cost them.
According to a witness who spoke to the Atlantic, An aide confirmed to the former President that they had in fact received a bill, amounting to $60,000 to cover the costs of the funeral.
"It doesn't cost 60,000 bucks to bury a f—ing Mexican!" Trump exclaimed in response, ordering his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, to not pay the bill.
Trump's frustration at the situation continued into the day, as he later remarked on the funeral costs.
"Can you believe it?" Trump said, according to the witness. "Fucking people, trying to rip me off."
The Guillén family's attorney, Natalie Khawam, confirmed that Guillén's funeral costs were partially covered by the Army, and partially covered by donations. She also confirmed that the family never received any money from the Trump administration despite sending Trump the bill.
Trump spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer stated that Trump never uttered the phrase "f—ing Mexican", further alleging that reports of the comment made by the former President was "an outrageous lie from The Atlantic two weeks before the election."
Pfeiffer then proceeded to provide reporters with a statement from Kash Patel regarding Trump's statements addressing Guillén's funeral costs.
"As someone who was present in the room with President Trump, he strongly urged that Spc. Vanessa Guillén'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."
Guillén's sister, Mayra Guillén, also came out in support of Trump in a statement posted to X.
"I don't appreciate how you are exploiting my sister's death for politics- hurtful & disrespectful to the important changes she made for service members. President Donald Trump did nothing but show respect to my family & Vanessa," she wrote. "In fact, I voted for President Trump today."
Wow.
— Mayra Guillen (@mguilen_) October 22, 2024
I don’t appreciate how you are exploiting my sister’s death for politics- hurtful & disrespectful to the important changes she made for service members. President Donald Trump did nothing but show respect to my family & Vanessa. In fact, I voted for President Trump today. https://t.co/o8cDrKOKBV
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