Biden Showed Up

Biden attends the dignified transfer of the remains ofArmy Reserve Sergeants William Rivers, Kennedy Sanders and Breonna Moffett,three US service members killed in Jordan during a drone attackcarried out by Iran-backed militants.Dover AFB Feb. 2, 2024.

Joshua Roberts/Reuters

Trump didn't.

Trump Picks Golf Dinner Over Dignified Transfer of U.S. Troops’ Bodies

Rather than attend the dignified transfer of the bodies of four U.S. Army soldiers who died on a training mission in Lithuania, Donald Trump flew to Florida to watch a Saudi-funded LIV golf tournament at his own course and later join a dinner reception there, NBC News reported.

It was unclear who would be attending the transfer at Delaware’s Dover Air Force base, as the White House did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.

The Daily Beast has been unable to verify the timing of the dignified transfer, and the White House and the Defense Department also did not respond to requests for comment from NBC.

The soldiers ...

• Sgt. Jose Duenez Jr., 25, of Joliet, Illinois
• Sgt. Edvin F. Franco, 25, of Glendale, California
• Pfc. Dante D. Taitano, 21, of Dededo, Guam
• Staff Sgt. Troy S. Knutson-Collins, 28, of Battle Creek, Michigan

... died when their 70-ton armored vehicle sank in a bog.

The four were honored earlier Thursday during a dignified departure ceremony in Lithuania, with the country’s president, Gitanas Nausėda, in attendance.

“I paid tribute to the four United States soldiers who lost their lives during training exercises in Lithuania,” Nausėda said afterward in a social media post.

“Americans are our loyal allies and friends. Our nation today expresses its condolences, respect, and gratitude to the entire American people.”

Presidents do not always attend dignified transfers of U.S. soldiers, however they have appeared in the past. Then-President Joe Biden and first lady Jill supported grieving families at Dover Air Force Base in February 2024 at a dignified transfer for three U.S. service members killed in a drone attack in Jordan. The Bidens had also met with the families prior to the ritual.

In August 2021, Trump attacked Biden for checking his watch while attending the dignified transfer of 13 U.S. service members killed in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Trump said he has been to Dover “many times.”

According to a 2020 article in The Huffington Post, Trump was so damaged after a Feb. 1, 2017, incident involving Bill Owens, the father of slain Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens, that he has avoided many of them since.

Owens refused to meet or shake Trump’s hand during the dignified transfer of Bill’s son, telling the Miami Herald at the time, “I told them I don’t want to meet the President.”

At the time of the HuffPost article, a review of Air Force records showed of 96 dignified transfers since the beginning of Trump’s first presidency. At that stage, he had been to just four.