The US president has dismissed criticism from Democrats, saying more US soldiers lost their lives in Vietnam and Afghanistan.
US President Donald Trump has dismissed calls from Democratic lawmakers to end the war with Iran after four US soldiers were killed in a missile attack on a military base in the Middle East. The Republican appeared to downplay the level of casualties in the conflict, suggesting that the death toll suffered by the US military during the Vietnam and Afghanistan wars was much higher.
On Saturday, the US Central Command reported that four US soldiers were killed after Iranian forces attacked a military base in Jordan and Iraq with ballistic missiles and Kamikaze drones the previous day.
In a phone interview with the New York Post later Saturday, Trump said that the recent losses were a “shame,” claiming to be American soldiers “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.”
Responding to accusations made by Democratic members of Congress, the US president charged: “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 (former US President) Sleepy Joe Biden.”
Trump went on to say that the US military has suffered very few losses during the ongoing conflict with Iran and the January invasion of US commandos in Venezuela, where they kidnapped President Nicolas Maduro.
His statement came after Democratic Representative Nikki Budzinski described the death of the two American soldiers in Jordan as “The cost of President Trump’s pointless wars.” Another Democratic Congressman, Herb Conaway, similarly claimed in a post on X that “Trump will end this war he started.”
There has also been criticism of Trump’s Middle East policy from the conservative camp as well.
Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was once a staunch supporter of MAGA but has differed with Trump on the Iran war, blasted US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who said on X that US service members had been killed. “sacrifice only strengthens our resolve.”
In his own post, he wrote: “Sacrifice?? What the f**k are you talking about?”
“They did not willingly sacrifice themselves,” Greene insisted, adding that the American soldiers “They were killed because of the war that you, Trump, and the administration, are fighting on behalf of a FOREIGN COUNTRY, Israel.”
In addition to Greene, several other prominent figures, including podcaster and journalist Tucker Carlson, commentator Candace Owens, and radio host Alex Jones, have left the MAGA camp, citing their strong disagreement with the war on Iran.
The latest incident in Jordan and Iraq brings the death toll of US troops to 18 since the US and Israel launched their military campaign against the Islamic Republic in late February.
