After the murder of Vanessa Guillén, the young 20-year-old soldier of Mexican origin, at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2020, the then US president, Donald Trump, in front of the cameras, offered to help the family with the funeral, However, privately, he fumed at having to pay $60,000.
According to quotes from reporter Jeffrey Goldberg, in The Atlantic magazine, under the article “Trump: ‘I need the type of generals that Hitler had’”, the Republican brought out his most intolerant side towards migrants.
Initially, Trump expressed solidarity with Guillen’s mother. “I saw what happened to his daughter Vanessa, who was a spectacular person, respected and loved by everyone, even in the army.”
Later in the conversation, he made a promise: “If I can help her with the funeral, I will help her, I will help her with that,” said. “I will help her. Financially, I will help her.”
Natalie Khawam, the family’s attorney, responded: “I think the military will pay, they’ll take care of it.”
Trump immediately congratulated himself and later, a journalist covering the meeting asked the former president if he had previously offered to do that for other families, to which the Republican responded: “I have. Personally. I have to do it personally. “I can’t do it through the government.”
However, the discourse changed just a few weeks later. According to The Atlantic, in a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on December 4, 2020, when he asked his staff how much the funeral had cost, he was told that the bill was $60,000, which He unleashed his fury:
“It doesn’t cost $60,000 to bury a damn Mexican!” he exclaimed, in addition to ordering his team not to pay said amount.
In a second talk, Trump returned to the topic “Can you believe it?” he said, according to a witness cited by the publication. “Damn people, trying to scam me.”
In the end, the family lawyer revealed that she sent the invoice to the White House, but never received money from Trump, so some of the costs were covered by the Army and with donations. Vanessa Guillén was finally buried in Houston.
In response, Alex Pfeiffer, a spokesman for Trump, denied that the president had made a statement like that and assured that it is “a scandalous lie from The Atlantic two weeks before the elections.”
Despite this, Donald Trump’s immigration policy adds to the journalist’s version, since only during the campaign he promised that, if re-elected president, he would massively deport those who do not have permission to remain in the United States.
Keep reading:
- Girlfriend of the soldier who murdered Vanessa Guillen pleaded guilty; Cecily Aguilar allegedly helped bury and burn Vanessa’s remains
- Vanessa Guillen Case: Netflix Documentary Narrates Fight for Justice; They brought the Army to its knees
- Post office in Houston will be named after Vanessa Guillén two years after her tragic death at Fort Hood