President Trump hosted a brunch at the White House for Angel Moms of children killed by illegal immigrants, plus Gold Star Mothers who lost their children in combat.
The brunch, which took place on Friday in the White House Rose Garden, was the second Mother’s Day celebration hosted by Mr. Trump this week.
On Wednesday, he and first lady Melania Trump honored America’s military mothers, praising their sacrifices and support for service members.
Mother’s Day is this Sunday.
Speaking on Friday, Mr. Trump recognized the losses the mothers endured.
“It used to be ’time heals all wounds,’ but it doesn’t,” he said. “When you love somebody that much, [time] doesn’t help like it should.”
Attendees included Tammy Nobles, whose 20-year-old daughter, Kayla Hamilton, was raped and murdered by a Walter Javier Martinez, a Salvadoran who entered the U.S. illegally. He was sentenced to 70 years in prison for the crime in 2022.
Also in attendance was Anna Zartuska, whose daughter, Iryna Zartuska, was stabbed to death by an illegal immigrant on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina, in August.
One of the Gold Star Mothers in the Rose Garden was Alicia Lopez, whose daughter Marine Cpl. Hunter Lopez was one of the 13 American service members killed by a suicide bomber at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul during the chaotic U.S. evacuation of Afghanistan in 2021 under President Joseph R. Biden.
“Should have never happened,” Mr. Trump said of the deaths on Abbey Gate. “That never should have happened.”