The ongoing war between Iran and the United States has been highly charged, and unfortunately cost the lives of some American military personnel. The war has become unpopular, and President Donald Trump is dong and saying what he can to cling to support – even downlplaying the deaths of soldiers.
An attack by Iranian forces on an air base in Jordan last Friday (July 17) resulted in the deaths of First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan, 25; Private Isabella Gonzales, 19; and Sergeant Angel S. Rampersad, 28, who is still missing and “believed to be deceased.” A fourth soldier, Sergeant Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, died after a controlled detonation of an enemy drone in Iraq, which brings the current amount of casualties to 18.
Trump offered some condolences as he attended the dignified transfer of the recent casualties on Wednesday (July 22) at Dover Air Force Base, but also added the odd statement that “all of them said very strongly, ‘We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.’”
It was the latest statement where Trump aimed to retain support for the war among his base. On
Tuesday (July 21), he took to Truth Social to post a list of American casualties from the war in Afghanistan, the Korean war and others. He would then repost the claims an hour later to his followers. Trump would follow that post up with another, this one showing the bar graphs of each conflict under other presidents, using the caption: “These are the real facts. REPORT THEM!!!”
Trump doubled down at a rally in Cobb County, Georgia on Wednesday night, “This skirmish we have going on. I call it a skirmish with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump said to the crowd. “They are getting hit so hard. And they want to make a deal. But I say they’re not ready to make a deal. They’ll be ready very soon.”
His comments drew a backlash from critics such as Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, who wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, calling them “beneath contempt”. Former Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene also blasted Trump on X, writing: “Trump is bragging about killing 18 US soldiers. Thats how I read this stupid [post].”