President Donald Trump struggled to offer much sympathy for the families of about 100 Americans—many of them U.S. military veterans—who have died fighting in Ukraine.
An estimated several thousand Americans have volunteered to fight for Ukraine since Russian dictator Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion in 2022, with at least 92 Americans killed as of September, The New York Times reported.
Following a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday to discuss a peace deal to end the war, Trump was asked about his message to the families of the fallen Americans.
“The message is so obvious,” he replied. “What a shame. They died in a foreign country. And some are celebrated people, they’re very celebrated. But it’s so sad that a thing like that would happen.”
He then immediately moved on to the next question.
Social media users quickly noted that the president hadn’t thanked the fallen for their sacrifice, praised their commitment to freedom and democracy, or even offered his personal condolences.
Many of the Americans who have died in Ukraine were U.S. military veterans.
Mike Meoli, 71, was a retired Navy Seal and firefighter who traveled to Ukraine to train medics on the front lines. He was killed in November 2024, ABC 10 News San Diego reported.
Nicholas Maimer, 45, was an Army Special Forces veteran and Idaho native who helped train Ukrainian officers. He was killed in May 2023 in an artillery barrage, according to Military.com.
Ian Frank Tortorici, 32, was a retired corporal with the U.S. Marines who fought on the front lines. He died in July 2023 after a Russian missile hit a restaurant where he was eating while on leave, Task and Purpose reported.
The U.S. government has declined to provide aid to American fighters to avoid any suggestion of a direct clash with Russia, which is a nuclear power, the Times reported in September.
But some social media users argued that Trump’s barely-there compassion for their families wasn’t measured diplomacy—it was reminiscent of the president’s previous comments about Americans who died in combat being “suckers” and “losers.”
During a trip to France in 2018, the president said American soldiers who died on French soil during World War I were “losers,” and that U.S. Marines who helped halt the 1918 German advance toward Paris were “suckers” for dying at the hands of the enemy.
The White House denied reports of the comments, which were revealed by The Atlantic magazine in 2020, but they’re just one example of the president disparaging military veterans and their families.
He has mocked the late Sen. John McCain’s war injuries, publicly insulted the parents of a 27-year-old soldier who died in a car bombing in Iraq, and privately raged about the funeral costs for a female soldier who was murdered by a male soldier at Fort Hood.
Although he failed to offer much comfort Sunday to the families of Americans who have died fighting Russia, Trump did manage to heap praise on the man who started the war.
“Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed,” Trump said, prompting Zelensky to raise an eyebrow. “I was explaining to the president [Zelensky], President Putin was very generous in his feeling toward Ukraine succeeding.”
He also said he “understands” Putin’s refusal to agree to a ceasefire while a longer-term agreement is being hashed out.
“He feels that look, you know, they’re fighting and to stop, and if they have to start again, which is a possibility, he doesn’t want to be in that position—I understand that position,” Trump said.
Putin bombarded Ukraine with over 100 drones on Christmas Eve and early Christmas Day, killing at least seven civilians.
Sunday’s talks were intended to address security guarantees and possible territorial concessions, and while both sides said progress had been made, neither gave any indication that a deal was within reach.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
