President Trump calls dying West Haven man

First District Councilwoman Bridgette Hoskie, right, with her younger brother, Jay W. Barrett, at Yale-New Haven Hospital. First District Councilwoman Bridgette Hoskie, right, with her younger brother, Jay W. Barrett, at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Photo: Contributed Photo / Bridgette Hoskie Photo: Contributed Photo / Bridgette Hoskie Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close President Trump calls dying West Haven man 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

WEST HAVEN — A terminally ill man who is a devout President Donald J. Trump fan got to scratch a biggie off his bucket list Tuesday when he received a surprise telephone call from Trump himself.

“I can’t believe that he called — I’m ecstatic about it,” Jay W. Barrett, 44, said. “It was an amazing experience.”

One sentence into the telephone call, the two sounded like old buddies, with Barrett dropping conversational expletives.

Trump began the conversation by saying, “ All right, Jay, you look handsome to me. I just saw a picture of you.” Barrett responded that Trump was giving him “kind honors,” and words to the effect of he doesn’t took so good — using a word not suitable for a family newspaper. Trump laughed.

“How are you doing? How is it going, Jay?”

Barrett answers, “It’s going, you know what I mean?”

To which Trump said, “You’re a champ. You’re fighting it right?”

To which Barrett said, “That’s what the Irish do — right?” To which Trump agreed heartily, saying, “Yeah that’s what the Irish do — you better believe it.”

Trump sounded robust and charming.

Trump said to Barrett: “I wish you could come to a rally. I wish you could come. I know you like that stuff and I wish you could.” Trump added, “It sounds like you have a great sister, Jay.”

Trump was referring to Barrett’s sister Bridgette Hoskie, a 1st District City Council member who set out to make her brother’s wish come true.

Barrett told the president, “Listen, if you can pencil me in I’ll find a way to get there.”

Trump then said when he’s “up around that territory” — noting he knows the area well — “You’ll be sitting front row, center.”

Barrett told Trump he plans on coming down to D.C. “between now and my expiration date.”

That’s where a video of the conversation stopped, although the talking continued.

Barrett got the telephone call on Hoskie’s telephone at about 5:30 p.m. She was told last minute the president was going to call and rushed home from work, keeping it a surprise until the end.

Barrett said his older sister handed him the telephone and the voice on the other end said, according to Barrett, said, “I’m the secretary for the president of the United States. Do you have time to talk to him?”

For Barrett, a Trump loyalist all the way, having any acknowledgment from Trump was a bucket list item. Getting a telephone call was pure joy.

Barrett, who is in the end stages of cystic fibrosis, was moved Sunday from Yale New Haven Hospital to home hospice at his sister’s house.

Barrett said the president told him he read a newspaper story about his devotion and wishes and said, “It’s an amazing story.”

He said Trump told him that he “sounds like a fighter” and encouraged him to “keep fighting.” Barrett said Trump told him, “We need people like you on our side — fighters.”

“I told him, ‘I plan on voting for you in 2020, God permitting,’” Barrett told the Register.

The story of Barrett’s wishes as he fights for his life — and first reported by the Register — has gone national and brought New Haven area politicians together in the quest to get him some kind of acknowledgment from Trump, maybe a card or email. No one ever dreamed Barrett would get anything as personal as a telephone call from the leader of the free world.

Soon after the story appeared it was learned that HUD official Lynne Patton, who is from the New Haven area, will visit Barrett Saturday and bring him a gift from Trump and his family. Trump assured Barrett during the phone call that the visit from Patton was still happening.

Barrett is a Trump fan through and through, while Hoskie describes herself as “100 percent Democrat.”