Trump claims fallen soldiers 'all said' Iran can't have nuclear weapon

President Donald Trump's war with Iran took a turn for the worse after the deaths of four soldiers in Jordan, intensifying pressure on the 80-year-old to call off the conflict. But the president appears unfazed by the criticism. Speaking to reporters ahead of a dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base, Trump said the fallen troops were "indeed great heroes" and claimed "all of them said very strongly, we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. They won't have a nuclear weapon."

The clip quickly gained traction online, where many called Trump's remarks opportunistic. One user, whose profile description says he is a veteran, wrote: "Trump saying fallen troops 'told him' they couldn't let Iran get a nuclear weapon is not just a lie—it's a violation. Dead service members don't deliver policy lines. They don't endorse a president's war. And using their deaths as scripted justification for an illegal conflict is the kind of thing every vet recognizes immediately: doubt and dishonesty coming out of the same mouth."

This isn't the only incident to draw censure. Trump's response to the deceased troops has been characterized by many as tone-deaf in recent days. One flashpoint was a Truth Social post in which he listed several American wars alongside their death tolls, framing the Iran conflict as the least costly by comparison: "Afghanistan War: 20 years, 2,000 DEAD. Vietnam War: 19 years and 5 months, 58,220 DEAD. Venezuela War: 1 day, 0 DEAD. Iran Military Conflict: 4 months, 18 DEAD," he wrote.

In the same interaction with reporters, Trump warned that the U.S. will respond to Iran "decisively" with force. "Well, they're going to pay a big price. They're being decimated," he said. He laid out his strategy in a Truth Social post, saying the United States would bomb and destroy "ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT"—including those in or near Tehran, Iran's capital—for every attack by Iran on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, "whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon."

The president also doubled down on his claim that Americans aren't against the war. "A poll just came out. Americans don't want to have gasoline prices, but they're not against the war," he said. It remains unclear which poll Trump was referring to, though he recently posted about one from last month. That poll— the Big Data Poll—was used by the White House to urge voters to "trust in Trump," even as it claimed that a majority of Americans favor an end to the war with Iran.