Updated November 1, 2017 Foreign Policy & War
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern
Niger Ambush: Four U.S. Soldiers Killed, Trump's Response Criticized as Callous
The four soldiers — Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson, Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, and Sgt. La David Johnson — were killed in an ambush 12 days before Trump publicly acknowledged their deaths. Trump's delayed response and his disputed call to Johnson's widow — in which witnesses say he told her her husband 'knew what he signed up for' — became a national controversy. Trump denied the account. The incident also exposed the extent of U.S. military operations in Africa that Congress had not been notified about.