In a Truth Social post earlier this week that had people criticizing him for callousness, President Donald Trump listed the numbers of casualties for a variety of U.S. conflicts.
The post, which appeared in bar graph form but echoes the numbers from an earlier text-based post by Trump, compared the number of years and thousands of casualties from the Vietnam, Korean, Iraq, and Afghanistan wars, with the “Iran military conflict” and “Venezuela War.” Those latter two campaigns, both conducted this year under Trump, lasted “4 months” with “18 dead” for Iran, and “1 day” and “0 dead” for Venezuela.
Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Equipment) 3rd Class Anatalia Zamora, from Midland, Texas, runs to a safe distance before an F/A-18E Super Hornet assigned to the “Tophatters” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 14 launches from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations to enhance interoperability through alliances and partnerships while serving as a ready-response force in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Michael Singley) 220228-N-MM912-1137
Block III F/A-18 Super Hornet.
The post also inexplicably described the brief Venezuela operation earlier this year as a “war” but the months-long Iran engagement as a “military conflict.”
Posted just days after multiple U.S. service members lost their lives in support of the Iran campaign, Trump’s scorecard-style comparison of war dead in different conflicts was criticized by some who considered it disrespectful to the recently deceased who had made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
The president, after all, appeared to be bragging about how few service members had been killed.
“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,” the president told the New York Post in a call this week, while describing the recent deaths of four service members as “a shame.”
And now, there’s another controversy about the number of American war dead in the Iran conflict.
Changing Casualty Counts in Iran War
The New York Times reported on Thursday that the number of American troop deaths in the Iran conflict has suddenly changed on the Pentagon’s website, and that there are conflicting explanations as to why.
On Wednesday, the Pentagon listed the number of war dead in the Iran conflict as 18, while the following day, that number had dropped to 14. Trump, in his Truth Social bragging, had used 18 as the number.
The data, before the change, stated that 11 service members had died in hostilities, and seven more in accidents, all in the refueling accident that took place in Iraq in March.
“Three military officials said that one reason behind the change was that the Trump administration decided to remove four service members killed this past weekend from the list — three in Jordan and one in northern Iraq — because their deaths occurred after President Trump declared a cease-fire in the war in April,” the Times reported.
However, the acting press secretary for the Pentagon, Joel Valdez, had a different explanation, stating that the change in casualties was due to “temporary data disruptions” and would be corrected.
As of Friday morning, the website still lists the number as 14.
The Times also noted that the Pentagon has not always been forthright with information on strikes on U.S. bases during the current conflict, with the Department last holding a briefing on the war in May.
The Pentagon has said that the law requires it to disclose troop deaths, but not injuries.
However, as reported by the Washington Post on July 20, the number of injured troops has been very high, with more than 100 described as “injured” in the last two weeks, although 96 percent of those injured have since returned to duty.
“They are determined to get back in the fight,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said, per the Post. “The vast majority of injuries experienced were minor concussions.”
“The Pentagon withheld information about three Iranian strikes last week in Jordan that injured dozens of U.S. service members and damaged several helicopters, according to several U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters,” the Times said.
“A Real Hard Time Being Honest”
“The administration seems to have a real hard time being honest about what is going on — not just about casualties, but about the whole war in general,” retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, who commanded forces in Europe during the first Trump presidency, told the Times.
He added that their behavior shows “an unwillingness or inability to aggressively learn from mistakes.”
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
