Donald Trump has gotten into an ugly word salad while trying to soothe the families of troops killed in his war.
Four more U.S. service members have died in renewed fighting in the Middle East, after the Washington-Tehran memorandum of understanding fell apart.
“All I’m going to say is we love you, we love your child, and that’s what they are to them, they’re their children,” Trump, 80, said in response to reporters as he boarded his new Qatari-gifted Air Force One.
“There’s no games, no nothing that’s their child and, er, all you can do is throw out your heart.”
He was on his way to the dignified transfer of the four slain troops at Dover Air Force Base on Wednesday, his third such trip since starting the war in late February.
On Friday, Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, from Texas, and First Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, from Hawaii, were killed in a drone strike in Jordan, as was Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, 28, of New York.
Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of North Carolina, was killed on Sunday in Iraq.
Earlier in his chat with the press, Trump had said the aim was to “honor our heroes, and they are indeed great heroes, actually.”
“They said in the— all of them said very strongly ‘we can’t let... we cannot let... Iran have a nuclear weapon.’”
It is not verifiable whether the fallen troops said this.
“They won’t have a nuclear weapon,” Trump continued. “So we’re going to honor them, and, er, it’s one of the hardest things to do. For me it’s one of the hardest things to do as a president, but, er, has to be done.”
All four of those killed were assigned to air defense units, according to The Washington Post.
Tuesday marked the 11th consecutive night of U.S. strikes on Iran since the memorandum collapsed.
Since the return to hostilities, Iran has fired at U.S. bases across the Middle East, including in Iraq and Jordan.
Tehran’s military wing, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has also claimed to have hit two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
Despite the mounting death toll, Trump’s rhetoric remained fierce.
“From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP,” he wrote on the 11th night of strikes.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
