Trump's treatment of soldier's widow compared to moment George W Bush was confronted by grieving mother

A former White House Press Secretary has revealed how George W Bush behaved when confronted with the distraught mother of a dying soldier.

It comes as pressure continued to mount on Donald Trump for his treatment of the families of four US Special Forces troops killed in Niger.

Mr Trump criticised the conduct of former Presidents and said “most of them” didn’t make personal calls to families of the deceased. The claims were quickly found to be false.

They were given even less credence by Dana Perino, who accompanied Mr Bush as he visited critically ill servicemen in hospitals.

In an account that was published by the Chicago Tribune in 2016 but has recently gained renewed attention, Ms Perino described an occasion when the Republican President was visiting Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre.

While there, the mother of a dying solder reacted badly to his visit.

“She yelled at the President, wanting to know why it was her child and not his who lay in that hospital bed,” Ms Perino wrote.

She continued: “I noticed the President wasn't in a hurry to leave - he tried offering comfort but then just stood and took it, like he expected and needed to hear the anguish, to try to soak up some of her suffering if he could.

“Later, as we rode back on Marine One to the White House, no one spoke.

“But as the helicopter took off, the President looked at me and said, ‘That mama sure was mad at me.’ Then he turned to look out the window of the helicopter. ‘And I don't blame her a bit’."

Mr Trump, who has presented himself as a champion of the military, is accused of reacting slowly to the deaths of Green Beret Staff Sergeants Bryan Black, Jeremiah Johnson and Dustin Wright and La David Johnson, killed in the West African country of Niger.

He is also alleged to have told the widow of Sgt Johnson: “He knew what he signed up for.”

Questions remain over the circumstances of their deaths, and the FBI is now involved in the ongoing investigation.