White House chief of staff John Kelly has spoken to President Donald Trump "several times" since the president invoked his son's death regarding Gold Star families, but Kelly is "disgusted by the way that this has been politicized," press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday.
"Gen. Kelly is disgusted by the way that this has been politicized and that the focus has become on the process and not the fact that American lives were lost," Sanders said at the daily briefing.
"He's disgusted and frustrated by that," she added. "If he has any anger, it's toward that."
Trump referenced Kelly's situation Tuesday in arguing former President Barack Obama did not call every Gold Star family as he explained why he had not yet reached out sooner to the relatives of Army Sgt. La David Johnson, 25, of Miami Gardens, Fla.
Kelly's son, Marine Corps Second Lt. Robert Kelly, was killed by a landmine in Afghanistan in 2010. His father is a retired Marine general.
Johnson was among four Green Berets slain when 50 ISIS terrorists ambushed them Oct. 4 in Niger.
Two other Berets were wounded. Four Nigerian soldiers also died in the attack.
Johnson's body was left behind. It was found two days later — and the assault was under investigation by the Pentagon.
Sanders told reporters Trump was not trying to politicize Kelly's death when he brought it up.
"He was responding to a question and stating a fact," she said.
"I don't think that there's anything that any president can do," she added. "There's never going to be enough that a president can do for the families of those that are killed in action.
"The point the president was making is that there's a different process.
"Sometimes they call, sometimes they write letters, sometimes they engage directly.
"The comments were certainly, I think, taken very far out of context by the media," she said.
"If there's any frustration, I think that's where it should be focused."