Former President Barack Obama did not personally call Gen. John Kelly, a Marine General who had commanded a multinational force in Iraq, when his son got killed in action in Afghanistan, according to an administration source.

The source responded to an inquiry from DailyMail.com about Kelly after President Donald Trump raised a question about it in an interview on Brian Kilmeade's radio show on Fox Tuesday.

Trump the previous day had caused a flap by claiming his predecessors 'didn't make calls' to families of the fallen.

Trump's initial comments drew an angry response from prior White House officials who said their bosses called, wrote, and met with families. But the president stood firm when asked about it, and brought up his chief of staff.

'Now as far as other representers, I don't know. I mean, you could ask General Kelly. Did he get a call from Obama? You could ask other people. I don't know what Obama's policy was,' the president said Tuesday morning.

Marine 1st Lieutenant Robert Kelly was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2010

Marine 1st Lieutenant Robert Kelly was killed in action in Afghanistan on Nov. 9, 2010. At the time, his father was commander of the Marine Forces Reserve and Marine Forces North.

The elder Kelly also commanded multinational forces in Iraq, was commander of U.S. Southern Command, and was brought in as President Trump's second White House chief of staff.

An Obama spokesman did not provide a comment.

However, Kelly and his wife were invited to attend a breakfast Obama hosted for Gold Star families on May 30, 2011. Someone familiar with the breakfast said Kelly and his wife were inited to sit at First Lady Michelle Obama's table, although it couldn't immediately be confirmed that they attended.

According to a former White House official: 'President Trump’s claim is unequivocally wrong. President Obama engaged families of the fallen and wounded warriors throughout his presidency through calls, letters, visits to Section 60 at Arlington, visits to Walter Reed, visits to Dover, and regular meetings with Gold Star Families at the White House and across the country.'

It was not immediately known whether Obama had written a letter to Kelly or communicated in some other fashion at the time of his son's death.

Trump had brought up Obama on Monday at an impromptu press conference in the Rose Garden, where he issued his first public comments on the Oct. 4 ambush that resulted in the deaths of four U.S. special forces.

He claimed his predecessors 'didn't make calls, ' and his comment brought condemnations from former Obama and Bush administration staffers. One former top Obama official called trump a 'deranged animal.'

Marine 1st Lieutenant Robert Kelly

Trump got asked Tuesday whether he had anything to clarify, but stood his ground.

'But I really just speak for myself. I don't speak for other people. I don't know what Bush did. I don't know what Obama did. You could find out easily what President Obama did. All you have to do is ask the military people. But I believe his policy was somewhat different than my policy,' Trump said.

'I can tell you: My policy is, I've called every one of them.'

But then Trump allowed that he had not yet called the latest families of fallen troops. 'And you have to let a little time go by. You can't just call immediately. But I will be calling, have called, and will be calling the parents and loved ones, wives, etc. of the soldiers that recently were killed.'

According to Military Times, the younger Kelly was killed by an IED while taking part in combat operations against enemy forces in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Trump revealed Monday that he had written the families of the Niger ambush over the weekend, and that the letters will be going out 'either today or tomorrow.'

President Donald Trump put the question out there during a radio interview when he said: 'I mean, you could ask General Kelly. Did he get a call from Obama?' Kelly is pictured with his sons Marine 1st Lieutenant Robert Kelly and with Maj. John Kelly, Jr., who was a Marine captain at the time of his brother's death

Trump stood firm Tuesday on his claim that his predecessors didn't call families of fallen U.S. servicemen and women, blasting a media flap over his own remarks as 'fake news.'

At a news conference Monday, Trump issued his first public comments on the deaths of four elite U.S. special forces troops in Niger – then spoke at length about own process of writing and calling families of fallen troops and falsely suggesting President Obama and other predecessors hadn't done the same.

Fox radio host Brian Kilmeade asked Trump in an interview Tuesday what he thought 'when you brought up past presidents and what they've done? Do you want to clarify anything there?'

'There was nothing to clarify,' Trump responded.

Former President Barack Obama did not phone Gen. John Kelly after his son was killed in action in 2010, according to an administration source

President Donald Trump, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at his side in the Rose Garden of the White House, made his first comments on the deadly ambush that killed four American special forces troops in Niger Oct. 4

As Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly shake hands, President Donald Trump lays flowers on the grave of Kelly's son Robert at Arlington National Cemetery on May 29, 2017 in Arlington, Virginia. Marine Lieutenant Robert Kelly was killed in 2010 while leading a patrol in Afghanistan

Then he turned his fire on nemesis CNN. 'This was, again, fake news. CNN. You know, they're just a bunch of fakers. So they asked me that question,' he said.

Trump had been asked why he hadn't responded in public to the Oct. 4 ambush that left four U.S. special forces dead.

'And for the most part, to the best of my knowledge, I think I've called every family of somebody that's died,' Trump said Tuesday. 'And it's the hardest call to make. ... The hardest thing for me to do is do that.'

Then he went back to Obama – whose health care and Iran policies he is in the process of trying to rip up.

'Now as far as other representers, I don't know. I mean, you could ask General [John] Kelly. Did he get a call from Obama? You could ask other people. I don't know what Obama's policy was. I write letters, and I also call. ... I have called, I believe everybody ... I've gone to Dover. I've seen what happens at Dover. It's an incredible scene, and very, very sad. One of the saddest things you'll ever see,' Trump said.

Trump spoke at length about how he plans to call families of slain U.S. troops at a White House impromptu press conference

Trump's language was walked back somewhat from Monday, when he said: 'If you look at president Obama and other presidents – most of them didn’t’ make calls. A lot of them didn’t make calls.'

Obama's former deputy chief of staff Alyssa Mastromonaco termed Trump's comments a ''f***ing lie' on Twitter.

'But I really just speak for myself,' Trump said Tuesday. 'I don't speak for other people. I don't know what Bush did. I don't know what Obama did. You could find out easily what President Obama did. All you have to do is ask the military people.'

'But I believe his policy was somewhat different than my policy. I can tell you: My policy is, I've called every one of them. And you have to let a little time go by. You can't just call immediately. But I will be calling, have called, and will be calling the parents and loved ones, wives, etc. of the soldiers that recently were killed.'

Barack Obama is pictured above making Thanksgiving Day phone calls to U.S. military personnel from the Oval Office in 2011

President George W. Bush posthumously presents the Medal of Honor to Daniel and Maureen Murphy, parents of fallen soldier Lt. Michael Murphy, in October 2007

Even as he blasted 'fake news,' Trump heaped praise on Fox, which hosted the interview. Kilmeade did not press Trump on a series of statements from Obama and Bush officials shooting down his claims.

'It's hard to believe I can get support when you have so many phony stories out there. You know, like CNN, like MSNBC, like NBC. NBC is probably worse than CNN. But all I know is, Fox is good. We love you, Fox!' Trump said.

Kellyanne Conway, counselor at the White House, says President Trump only meant to point out there 'are many different ways to reach out' to families of the fallen when he claimed yesterday that his predecessors 'didn't make calls' to the bereaved.

'What the president was saying there is that are many different ways to reach out to these families. Sometimes you call, sometimes you write, sometimes you actually meet them in the person,' she said in an appearance on Fox & Friends.

Conway indicated the president does not regret what he said because the intent behind his remarks at a spontaneous press conference were 'very clear.'

Families who lost loved ones in uniform are disagreeing in droves. So are ex-White House staffers.

Freddy Ford, a spokesman for George W. Bush, said that even at the height of two wars, 'wrote all the families of the fallen,' and called or met 'hundreds, if not thousands' of family members of slain soldiers.

Delilia O'Malley, the sister of a slain U.S. solider, says the former president listened to her scream and hugged her after her brother was killed in Iraq.

'Pres Bush listened while I screamed at him & then held me as I sobbed, you fat f***ing liar,' O'Malley tweeted at Trump on Monday night.

Ben Rhodes, Obama's foreign policy advisor, said: 'This is an outrageous and disrespectful lie even by Trump standards.'

Alyssa Mastromonaco, who served as a deputy chief of staff under former Obama, was among those to immediately lash out at Trump

At a news conference earlier in the day, President Trump issued his first public comments on the deaths of four elite U.S. special forces troops in Niger.

'I’ve written them personal letters. They’ve been sent or they’re going out tonight but they were written during the weekend,' Trump said Monday, after he was asked why he hadn't commented yet on the ambush by an ISIS-affiliated group. 'I will at some point during the period of time call the parents and the families. Because I have done that traditionally.'

In Niger, a 12-man Green Beret team had just met with local leaders when they came under an ambush, CNN reported. They were ultimately rescued by French Mirage jets but not before Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson, Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, and Sgt. La David T. Johnson were killed.

The network noted that Trump was playing golf on Saturday when the body of Johnson, a 25-year-old Army Sgt, arrived at Dover Air Force Base.

Trump said Monday that he felt 'very badly' about what happened and it's tough to deliver such difficult news.

'I felt very, very badly about that. I always feel badly. The toughest calls I have to make are the calls where this happens. Soldiers are killed. It’s a very difficult thing. It gets to a point where, you know, you make four or five of them in one day, it’s a very, very tough day. For me that’s by far the toughest.'

It was then that he took a shot at his predecessors, specifically Barack Obama.

'So the traditional way if you look at president Obama and other presidents – most of them didn’t’ make calls,' Trump said. 'A lot of them didn’t make calls. I like to call when it’s appropriate, when I think I’m able to do it. They have made the ultimate sacrifice, so generally I would say that I like to call.'

Those calls are expected in the near future.

'I’m going to be calling them. I want a little time to pass. I’m going to be calling them. I have, as you know, since I’ve been president I have. But in addition, I actually wrote letters individually to the soldiers we’re talking about, and they’re going to be going out either today or tomorrow,' Trump said.

US Army Special Forces soldiers observe as Nigerien armed forces service members fire their weapons with the assistance of illumination rounds during an exercise

Sergeant Bryan C. Black, 35, of Puyallup, Washington and Sergeant Jeremiah W Johnson, 39, of Springboro, Ohio

Sergeant Dustin M Wright, 29, of Lyons, Georgia and Sgt. La David T. Johnson of Miami Gardens, Florida

As his remarks made waves on the Internet, Trump was asked in a follow up question how he could back up his statement that President Obama didn't call soldiers' families.

'I don’t know if he did. I was told that he didn’t often. A lot of presidents don’t, they write letters. I do a combination of both. Sometimes it’s a very difficult thing to do but I do a combination of both,' he said.

'President Obama I think probably did sometimes and maybe sometimes he didn’t. I don’t know that’s what I was told,' Trump continued.

Former Obama communications director Dan Pfeiffer said on Twitter that Trump was 'lying' when he made the astounding claim about his predecessor, a Democrat whose policies he's trying to unravel in just about every circuit.

Alyssa Mastromonaco, another Obama alum, said Trump's charge was a 'f***ing lie' in a tweet in which she called the sitting president a 'deranged animal.'

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders later said 'the president wasn't criticizing predecessors, but stating a fact.'

Conway attempted to change the subject to the president's remorse that he had to make the calls in the first place when in the issue came up on Fox & Friends.

'This is a man has a great capacity for empathy,' she said.

Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade, who was broadcasting from the White House today, refused to let Conway off the hook. He pressed her to say whether Trump regretted his remarks.

'I think he made very clear in there what he meant and what he was saying,' Conway argued. 'And his focus, again, Brian, his focus is always on the grieving, on the families, on the loss of life, and on protection our soldiers.'

The armed forces, along with veterans, law enforcement and first responders, was a top motivator for Trump to run for president she offered. They 'are up there' on his list of priorities, Conway asserted.