Former President Donald Trump did not attend a ceremony on Friday in Delaware where U.S. officials received the remains of four American soldiers who died in a training accident in Lithuania last month.
Instead, Trump was in Florida, where he kicked off a three-day LIV Golf tournament at one of his courses and was scheduled to attend a fundraising dinner at his Mar-a-Lago resort that evening.
“The Secretary of Defense will represent the Administration at the dignified transfer for the four brave U.S. service members who tragically died during a training exercise in Lithuania,” the White House told The Hill.
Trump’s absence drew criticism, especially in light of past conservative attacks on President Joe Biden for briefly checking his watch during a similar ceremony.
A group of Democratic senators, including Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, Tammy Duckworth, and Chris Coons, attended the Friday transfer at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
Lithuania also held a separate ceremony earlier this week in Vilnius, attended by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, as the remains of the fallen soldiers were sent home.
The four soldiers were identified as Troy Knutson-Collins, 28, of Battle Creek, Michigan; Jose Duenez Jr., 25, of Joliet, Illinois; Edvin Franco, 25, of Glendale, California; and Dante Taitano, 21, of Dededo, Guam. They died when their armored vehicle became submerged in a peat bog.
Some veterans spoke out against Trump’s decision to skip the ceremony.
“I have never been so embarrassed to be an American than I have these last few months, and now, Donald Trump is completely disrespecting four of my brothers in arms to play golf,” said Blythe Potter, a military police corps veteran who served in Iraq, in a comment to Mediaite.
During his presidency, Trump attended fewer dignified transfer ceremonies than past presidents.
He also reportedly avoided them altogether for nearly two years following a confrontation with the father of a Navy SEAL killed in a 2017 raid in Yemen.
The last of the soldiers’ remains was recovered on Tuesday, after a major search effort that included U.S., Lithuanian, and Polish authorities.
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