President Trump defended the war with Iran as the US launched retaliatory strikes on Tehran for the deaths of two American service members in a call with The Post on Saturday, saying the troops made the ultimate sacrifice to prevent the regime from obtaining a nuclear weapon — and warned the region could descend into wider conflict if Tehran isn’t stopped.
Speaking about an hour into the latest US bombing campaign, Trump called the deaths “a shame” but argued the mission remains critical.
“They did it because they don’t want to see Iran have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said of the troops. “… And it just shows you how bad [the Iranians] are.”
Two service members were killed, one is missing, and at least four were injured during an attack on Muwawffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on Friday.
When asked whether he planned to contact the families of the two service members, Trump responded without hesitation.
“Of course I will. I always do. Yeah.”
The US military at 6 p.m. on Saturday launched a new wave of airstrikes against Tehran and were reportedly rushing warplanes to the Middle East.
The airstrikes were designed to further degrade the regime’s ability to “threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” US Central Command said in a statement.
CENTCOM also said the attacks on Tehran were intended to swiftly punish Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Earlier Saturday, Trump told NewsNation that he “couldn’t care less” that Iran announced they had exited the Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries, adding that the troops died “in service to their country.”
Following that, the Pentagon deployed additional warplanes toward the Gulf region, according to the Wall Street Journal.
F-16s are being sent from Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany, and stealth fighter jets, US F-35s, are flying to the region from a US Air Base in Britain, the outlet reported.
Additional refueling planes had already been sent to the region in recent days.
The president also defended the war after several Democratic members of Congress made statements blaming him for the troops’ deaths.
“Have you ever asked how many people died in Vietnam? Have you ever asked how many people died in Afghanistan in one day? In one day — run by Sleepy Joe Biden,” Trump said.
“This is two wars we’re talking about: Venezuela and this. And it’s a shame, but in this case, they died because they don’t want to see Iran have a nuclear weapon and they don’t want to see the Middle East blown up.”
As Republicans called for prayers for the fallen, many Democrats in Congress used the tragedy to call for the US to withdraw from the Middle East, claiming the fatalities could have been avoided otherwise.
“This is the cost of President Trump’s needless war,” wrote Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.)
“This country owes a debt that can never be repaid, but we can prevent more tragic loss of life,” Rep. Herb Conaway (D-N.J.) posted to X.
Start your day with all you need to know
Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.
Thanks for signing up!
“I demand that Trump end this war that he started and Republicans in Congress do the same. Enough is enough.”
Trump has consistently argued that preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon is a core US national security interest, warning that a nuclear-armed Tehran would destabilize the Middle East and threaten American allies.
The service members’ killed Friday are the first US fatalities since the president declared the cease-fire with Iran “over” last week, following Tehran’s targeting of three ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran was supposed to have reopened the strait as part of the US-Iran memorandum of understanding that cemented the cease-fire.
