Sgt. La David Johnson's Widow: Trump's Call 'Made Me Cry Even Worse'

MIAMI GARDENS, FL — Myeshia Johnson, the widow of fallen Green Beret La David Johnson said the phone call she received from President Trump "made me cry even worse," and she backed up the account of Rep. Frederica Wilson in the war of words that has overshadowed the deaths of her husband and three other soldiers. Myeshia also said she wants to know why it took 48 hours for the military to find her husband's body. The soldiers were killed during an ambush in Niger on Oct. 4. but Johnson's body was found two days later.

Speaking for the first time to ABC's George Stephanopoulos on "Good Morning America," Myeshia said the president's call came through the phone of a soldier who was riding with her, the congresswoman and her late husband's parents, whom she refers to as her aunt and uncle.

"Yes, the president said that he knew what he signed up for but it hurts anyways," she recalled, echoing the account of the congresswoman. "It made me cry because I was very angry at the tone of his voice and how he said it. He couldn’t remember my husband’s name. The only way he remembered my husband’s name because he told me he had my husband’s report in front of him, and that’s when he actually said, ‘La David.’"

She said President Trump's inability to say her husband's name was troubling for her. "That's what hurt me the most because if my husband is out here fighting for our country, and he risked his life for our country, why can’t you remember his name?

The president took issue with the widow's recollection of the call on Monday.

Also See: Funeral Held For Florida Soldier Killed In Niger

"I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation," the president tweeted.

Appearing on "The View," U.S. Sen. John McCain, on Monday questioned the entire debate that has played out publicly over the condolence call.

"My friends, we should not be fighting about a brave American who lost his life serving his country," McCain said. "That should not be the topic of discussion in America today."

McCain also said that the Senate Armed Services Committee which he chairs has not gotten sufficient information about military operations such as the one in Niger that claimed the life of Johnson and the three other soldiers.

"Americans should know what's going on in Niger, should know what caused the deaths of four brave young Americans, should know what kind of operations we're engaged in," according to the Republican. "One of the fights I'm having right now with the administration is that Armed Services Committee is not getting enough information. And they deserve it because we represent their families too."

Hundreds of family members, friends and fellow soldiers bid farewell to Sgt. Johnson on Saturday following the week-long controversy over the call between the president and Myeshia, which pitted President Trump, his chief of staff and press secretary against the Miami area's Wilson over what should have been a formality: a condolence call to a grief-stricken widow that lasted no more than five minutes.

Myeshia, who is expecting the couple's third child in January, was escorted out onto the tarmac of Miami International on Tuesday to meet her husband's silver casket. She placed her head on the flag that draped her childhood sweetheart's remains, and openly wept across its crisp, red and white stripes. She then kissed the flag and accompanied her husband's hearse through an emotional procession marked by first responders along the route in a show of respect. She would later kiss the coffin again at the cemetery.

Wilson came under fire from the president, his chief of staff and press secretary after she described the phone call as "insensitive." She shared her outrage with the national media, touching off the ensuing tangle with the Trump administration.

On Friday the White House doubled down on former Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly's comments concerning Wilson after video released by the South Florida Sun Sentinel appeared to prove that Wilson didn't make any of the self-aggrandizing statements at a 2015 dedication ceremony that Kelly accused her of just one day earlier. Wilson sat next to Johnson's family during Saturday's burial ceremony.

Myeshia said she and her husband had known each other since they were six years of age and they have known Congresswoman Wilson since they were small children as well.

"Whatever Miss Wilson said was not fabricated. What she said was 100 percent correct," according to Myeshia. "The phone was on speakerphone. Why would we fabricate something like that?"

Myeshia said she didn't say anything to the president, but just listened. She was hurt by the call.

"Oh very, very upset and hurt, very," she told Stephanopoulos. "It made me cry even worse."

Watch: Widow Of Fallen Soldier Says Trump's Call 'Upset And Hurt' Her

On Saturday, the attention returned to the 25-year-old Sgt. Johnson, whose funeral was held at Christ the Rock Community Church in Cooper City, Florida. The burial was held at a nearby cemetery. Johnson was a member of The 5000 Role Model of Excellence Project, which was created by Wilson, who also planned to establish a Role Model Army Sgt. La David T. Johnson Scholarship to benefit Johnson's children.

Many of the mourners were dressed in white and wore red carnations as they made their away to Johnson's final resting place.

A GoFundMe page had raised more than $697,000 toward a scholarship program for Johnson's children as of Monday. The GoFundMe page said that the area where Johnson was killed was "overwhelmed by Boko Haram."

When asked by Stephanopoulos, Myeshia said she didn't have anything she wanted to say to the president. She wants answers as to how her husband died and is still upset that she was not permitted to view his body.

"When they came to my house they just told me that it was a massive gunfire and my husband as of Oct 4 was missing," she recalled. "They didn’t know his whereabouts, they didn’t know where he was or where to find him. And a couple of days later is when they told me he went from missing to killed in action. I don’t know how he got killed, where he got killed, or anything. I don’t know that part. They never told me. That’s what I’ve been trying to find out since day 1, since Oct. 4."

Johnson was from Miami Gardens but was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg. His death remains under investigation by the U.S. military. He and fellow soldiers were ambushed on Oct. 4 in southwest Niger by dozens of Islamic extremists. Initially, only three solders were reported to have died. But after an extensive search, Johnson's body was found about a mile away from the others.

Born on Jan. 2, 1992 to Samara Johnson and Terrance McGriff, Johnson was raised by Richard and Cowanda Johnson after his biological mother passed away in September of 1999.

He was killed during his second deployment to Africa, which began on Aug. 28. The couple's daughter is due on Jan. 29.

"I want to tell her how awesome her dad was and how a great father he was and how he died as a hero," Myeshia added.

Myeshia Johnson kisses the casket of her husband U.S. Army Sgt. La David Johnson during his burial service at the Memorial Gardens East cemetery on October 21, 2017. Sgt. Johnson and three other American soldiers were killed in an ambush in Niger on Oct. 4. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)