On Friday, two American service members were killed defending a base in Jordan. Trump’s first public comment on their deaths didn’t come until Saturday evening, and only after a reporter reached out to ask.
NewsNation’s Hannah Brandt made that call, explaining her reasoning at the top of her report: “We hadn’t heard from the president yet about these deaths, so we decided to call him to see if he had a reaction.”
Trump’s response came quickly but briefly. “It’s a very sad thing. We hate to see it happen,” he told her, before pivoting to the line he returns to often. “But then the president told me, ‘It’s in service to our country… we’re never, they’re never going to allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.'” When Brandt followed up by asking about Iran’s announcement that it would no longer honor the ceasefire memorandum signed in June, Trump’s reply was flat. “I couldn’t care less.”
JUST IN: In a brief phone call I asked President Trump his reaction to Iran saying they are no longer following the Memorandum of Understanding and he told me “I couldn’t care less”@NewsNation
— Hannah Brandt (@HannahBrandt_TV) July 18, 2026
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U.S. Central Command laid out what happened in a statement issued Saturday.
“On July 17, two U.S. service members in Jordan were killed in action as U.S. Central Command and partner forces defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks. Additionally, one service member is currently missing. Four American service members were medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals. They have since been discharged.”
CENTCOM Statement on Recently Fallen, Missing U.S. Service Members
TAMPA, Fla. — On July 17, two U.S. service members in Jordan were killed in action as U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and partner forces defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks. Additionally,…
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 18, 2026
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted his own tribute on X shortly after: “Godspeed, heroes. Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve.”
Godspeed, heroes.
Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve. https://t.co/GIcfNdAol0
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) July 18, 2026
These are the first American combat deaths tied directly to Iranian fire since March, in a war that has already cost other American lives along the way.
Six U.S. reservists were killed by an Iranian drone strike in Kuwait earlier in the conflict, and a separate attack on a base in Saudi Arabia killed one more. A refueling aircraft crash in Iraq killed six additional service members, and a helicopter pilot died earlier this month when his aircraft went down over the Arabian Sea, though investigators found nothing linking that crash to enemy action.
None of this has slowed the fighting down.
CENTCOM confirmed Saturday evening that new U.S. airstrikes had already begun, describing the operation as being conducted “at the Commander in Chief’s direction” and aimed at continuing “to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and swiftly punish Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces who launched attacks against American service members in Jordan last night.”
Both Trump and Hegseth have claimed repeatedly in the past that earlier rounds of strikes had already dismantled Iran’s ability to fight back, a claim this week’s attacks don’t square with especially well.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
