President Trump on Saturday defended the escalating conflict with Iran, telling The Post that U.S. retaliatory strikes on Tehran were justified after two American service members were killed. He said the troops had made the ultimate sacrifice to keep Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, while warning that the broader region could be pulled into a larger war if Tehran is not stopped.
Trump spoke roughly an hour after the latest U.S. bombing operation began, calling the deaths of the service members “a shame” but insisting the mission was essential.
“They did it because they don’t want to see Iran have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said, referring to the troops. “… And it just shows you how bad [the Iranians] are.”
Two service members were killed, one remains missing, and at least four others were wounded Friday in an attack on Muwawffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan.
Asked whether he intended to reach out to the families of the fallen service members, Trump answered immediately.
“Of course I will. I always do. Yeah.”
The U.S. military carried out its eighth straight night of strikes against Iran on Saturday, beginning the operation at 6 p.m. and wrapping it up about five and a half hours later, at 11:30 p.m.
According to U.S. Central Command, the latest wave of attacks hit Iranian coastal surveillance and air defense facilities, maritime assets, and missile and drone storage locations, part of a continuing campaign aimed at degrading Tehran’s military capabilities.
US forces also struck Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) positions linked to attacks on American service members in Jordan on July 17, the military said.
The airstrikes were designed to further degrade the regime’s ability to “threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM said in an earlier 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.”
RELATED: Economist Warns Biggest Property Market Correction in 40 Years Could Hit Luxury Homes Hard
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.
“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.
