President Trump on Wednesday witnessed the return of four young Army soldiers recently killed overseas, telling reporters beforehand that each had died supportive of the deadly war he was waging with Iran.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of them said very strongly, \u2018We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon,\u2019\u201d Mr. Trump said as he traveled to Dover Air Force Base to attend the dignified transfer. \u201cThey won\u2019t have a nuclear weapon. So we\u2019re going to honor them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later, Mr. Trump took one soldier\u2019s grieving family to his political rally in Georgia.<\/p>\n
The president did not say how he knew the fallen soldiers\u2019 views, but he decided to speak for them at a perilous political moment. Americans, including Republicans, have grown increasingly critical of the war in Iran, and the killings of U.S. service members was a grim, high-profile reminder that the president had failed to end a war that he had promised would only amount to \u201ca little excursion.\u201d<\/p>\n
The excursion has left at least 18 service members dead, a number that Mr. Trump has tried to both defend and diminish in recent days as the conflict grows bloodier.<\/p>\n
In a social media post on Tuesday, he compared the number of troop deaths in the Iran war with death counts in other conflicts, including the Vietnam War and the single-day mission that ousted Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, the Venezuelan president, last winter.<\/p>\n
The transfer cases for the four soldiers waited in vehicles at the air base in Dover on Wednesday. Credit…Kenny Holston\/The New York Times<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump has been proud to say that the Venezuela mission resulted in zero deaths, and he has repeatedly pointed out that conflicts in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq resulted in thousands of them. But when he traveled to Delaware on Wednesday, Mr. Trump was met with a stark reminder of the cost of each casualty.<\/p>\n
Flanked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other senior military officials, including Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mr. Trump approached the back ramp of the C-17 transport plane that had carried the soldiers home. He and the others bowed their heads for a moment.<\/p>\n
Then the men walked away from the plane, assembling themselves into a line nearby and looking straight ahead as soldiers began to carry each American flag-draped case from the plane. Several White House officials stood behind Mr. Trump, including Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary, who put her hand on her heart. Also standing nearby was Natalie Harp, the aide who drafts many of the president\u2019s vitriolic social media posts and prints out flattering news articles for Mr. Trump\u2019s review.<\/p>\n
A woman wailed as the fourth case was loaded into a waiting transfer van. At several points, Mr. Trump tapped his right hand against his right thigh. When it was all over, the president climbed into an armored car that took him to his waiting plane.<\/p>\n
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, center, with Mr. Trump and Natalie Harp, a White House aide, second from right, at the dignified transfer.Credit…Kenny Holston\/The New York Times<\/p>\n
The president is adamant that Americans support the Iran war.<\/p>\n
\u201cA poll just came out: Americans don\u2019t want high gasoline prices, but they\u2019re not against the war \u2014 that just came out loud and clear,\u201d Mr. Trump said earlier on Wednesday before he traveled to the transfer. He did not specify the poll he was talking about.<\/p>\n
In reality, pollsters for months have been tracking growing frustration over the war, including within the Republican Party. According to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll released<\/a> last week, only 29 percent of Americans support the conflict. That poll also showed that most Americans do not believe their economic outlook will improve.<\/p>\n As he defended the war and praised the soldiers who had been killed in action, Mr. Trump also told reporters that attending dignified transfers was a difficult thing for him.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s one of the hardest things to do as a president,\u201d Mr. Trump said, adding, \u201cIt has to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n The families of the service members who were killed have not talked about their support for the war.<\/p>\n Clockwise from top left, Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad and First Lt. Tyler James Feehan. Credit…U.S. Army<\/p>\n Instead, Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, who was killed while disposing of an Iranian drone in Iraq, was described as a jokester, according to his mother.<\/p>\n Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, who was 19 years old when she was killed by an Iranian missile at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base last week in Jordan, was simply described by her uncle as a \u201csoldier.\u201d<\/p>\n First Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, was also killed in that attack. He was described as a mentor to others.<\/p>\n \u201cHe believed deeply in the power of military service, especially what it builds in a person: discipline, leadership, character,\u201d his family said<\/a> in a statement. \u201cEveryone who knew him loved him.\u201d<\/p>\n The family is trying to raise money for a scholarship in Lieutenant Feehan\u2019s name.<\/p>\n Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, 28, who is also believed to have been killed during that attack, was called a \u201cgentle giant\u201d<\/a> by her family.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump has released several seething statements promising retribution against Iran for their killings.<\/p>\n