Donald Trump, rather than attend the dignified transfer of four U.S. Army soldiers who had died on a training mission in Lithuania, 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 immediately 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, and 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.
We bid farewell to the fallen U.S. soldiers with respect and gratitude. Because, as we have said many times, they are our soldiers too. In this moment of tragedy, we stood together. It is a testament to the strength of unity even in the darkest times. pic.twitter.com/dJU5igN6d9
— Lithuanian MOD 🇱🇹 (@Lithuanian_MoD) April 3, 2025
“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 Feb. 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.
President Donald Trump and his son, Eric Trump, drive in a golf cart after he arrived on Marine One at the LIV Golf tournament being held at his Trump National Doral Golf Club on April 03, 2025 in Doral, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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.
