Trump says more US service member deaths ‘likely’ in Iran conflict after 3 killed, 5 injured

(NEXSTAR) — In a video message posted on Sunday, President Donald Trump said, “there will likely be more” U.S. service members killed in Iran, just hours after the U.S. military confirmed three members had been killed and five others were injured.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, announced the deaths in a post on X but did not say when and where they occurred. The statement said “several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions” and were going to return to duty.

The identities of those service members were being withheld until 24 hours after their families had been notified, CENTCOM noted. Trump told the Daily Mail on Sunday that those killed were “great people.”

“As one nation, we grieve for the true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives,” Trump said during the six-minute-long video posted to social media. “We pray for the full recovery of the wounded and send our immense love and eternal gratitude to the families of the fallen, and sadly, there will likely be more before it ends.”

He went on to say that “America will avenge their deaths and deliver the most punishing blow to the terrorists who have waged war against, basically, civilization.”

In a similar video posted on Saturday, Trump warned that “lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties,” as “often happens in war.”

“But the only reason we enjoy the quality of life that we do and the freedom and security is we have done things that others are unable to do,” Trump said on Sunday after calling America “now, again, the richest, most powerful nation in the world, by far.”

“But it’s because of warriors who are willing to lay down their lives to do battle with our enemies, and they do battle better than anybody.”

He went on to describe “an Iranian regime armed with long range missiles and nuclear weapons…a dire threat to every American.”

“We cannot allow a nation that raises terrorist armies to possess such weapons, [which] would allow them to extort the world to their evil will. Not [going to] let it happen,” Trump continued. “The United States has the strongest military the world has ever seen. I rebuilt our military in my first term. There’s never been a military like we possess. And frankly, there’s nobody even close, but we are now using that military for good. We want to have it for a good purpose.”

Following the U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other leaders, Iran’s counterattacks have struck U.S. bases in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has threatened to launch its “most intense offensive operation” ever targeting Israeli and American military installations.

Before the strikes, Trump had built up the largest U.S. military presence in the Middle East in decades. The arrival of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and three accompanying guided-missile destroyers at the end of January bolstered the number of warships in the region.

The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, and four accompanying destroyers later were dispatched from the Caribbean Sea to head to the Middle East.

The Ford was part of the U.S. raid in Venezuela that captured leader Nicolás Maduro, who was brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges. The operation in January claimed no American lives but left seven U.S. troops with gunshot wounds and shrapnel-related injuries.

Trump has launched several military operations during his second term, including strikes on members of the Islamic State group in Syria in retaliation for an ambush attack that killed two U.S. troops and an American civilian interpreter in December.

The U.S. military has also struck IS forces in Nigeria, after Trump accused the West African country’s government of failing to rein in the targeting of Christians.

Trump told the Daily Mail that fighting in Iran could go on four about a month.

“We figured it will be four weeks or so,” Trump told the Daily Mail. “It’s always been about a four-week process, so, as strong as it is — it’s a big country — it’ll take four weeks, or less.”