Story highlights Trump's first remarks didn't come until nearly two weeks later

He was asked about them during an impromptu news conference on Monday

Washington (CNN) It's not clear why it took President Donald Trump 12 days to publicly comment on the deaths of US troops killed in an ambush in Niger, but it wasn't for lack of effort from some White House officials.

White House officials prepared and circulated internally a statement to be issued on the President's behalf the day after the attack. But the statement, obtained Wednesday by Politico and confirmed by CNN, was never officially released.

Instead, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders took to the briefing room that same day and said: "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the fallen service members who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of the freedoms we hold so dear."

It wasn't until nearly two weeks later that the President, an avid Twitter user, mentioned the deaths when he asked about them during an impromptu news conference Monday in the White House Rose Garden.

Pressed Wednesday on why it took Trump so long to offer a public statement on the soldiers' deaths, Sanders pointed reporters to her remarks October 5, saying she made those remarks "at the direction of the President."

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