Gold Star mother reveals what Trump told her on third anniversary of her son's death during Afghanistan withdrawal

Gold Star mother Paula Knauss Selph sharply criticized the Biden administration for continuing to evade responsibility as she and other Gold Star families marked the third anniversary of the terrorist attack in Afghanistan's Kabul Airport in which 13 US soldiers were killed.

“On this day, we all mourn something that should never have happened,” said Selph, whose son Sergeant Major Ryan Knauss, died during the failed retreat, said in “America Reports.”

GOLD STAR FATHER SAYS BIDEN-HARRIS REFUSED HIS SON TO SERVICE AS FALLEN AFGHANISTAN SOLDIERS ARE HONORED IN CALIFORNIA

Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss died in the suicide attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 26, 2021. (US Army Special Forces Command)

“It's the lack of accountability that has really angered the nation on this issue. It's the lack of empathy and understanding of a situation…at least say you're sorry,” she added. “At least apologize for the lack of leadership.”

The grieving mother said Biden's chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal had cost the United States its credibility on the world stage, echoing the words of former President Trump, who told a crowd on Monday that foreign leaders and bad actors “no longer respect us.”

“He's right. We've lost a lot of credibility in our country and in our world powers,” she told Fox News co-host Sandra Smith. “We've lost it. And the only way we can get it back is if we become a world power again.”

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Moments earlier, Trump laid wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday to commemorate the fallen soldiers killed in the suicide attack on Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan. A clip on America Reports showed the former president laying flowers at the grave of Selph's son.

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA – AUGUST 26: Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump stands next to Bill Barnett (left), whose grandson Staff Sgt Darin Taylor Hoover was killed in the Abbey Gate bombing, during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery August 26, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia. (Getty Images)

“He [Trump] called me right afterward and expressed his regret that he had to do this,” Selph revealed. “He reminded me that there are good leaders in our country who will step in when the time comes. [and] we will all be grateful when the change of ownership takes place.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson announced on Monday that he would present the Congressional Gold Medal to the families of those who lost loved ones in the attack on Kabul airport.

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Selph said the decision was “an honor for the 13 grieving families.”

“It brings honor to our nation,” she told Smith, adding, “We will not forget it.”

Vice President Harris made a statement On Monday, she marked the anniversary of the attack by listing the names of the victims and vowing to “uphold our sacred obligation to care for our troops and their families” and “to always honor their service and sacrifice.” She wrote that she was “heartbroken” by their “pain and loss” but that she believed “President Biden made the courageous and right decision to end America's longest war.”

Pallbearers carry one of the 13 soldiers killed in the Abbey Gate attack at Kabul airport in April 2021. (Stephen Lam/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

Gold Star mother Shana Chappell, who also spoke to Fox News She said on Monday that her son was not proud of the current state of the country he died to protect.

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“The Biden administration is 100% to blame for my son losing his life. Now when I look at the direction our country is heading, I think my son did not die for that. He did not die to watch our country go down that path,” she said.

Fox News' Taylor Penley contributed to this report.