'You should resign': Ted Lieu tears into Mike Waltz over ignorance about Iran war casualties

Rep. Ted Lieu got into a heated confrontation with United States Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, as he testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday. Lieu strongly expressed his displeasure about Waltz not being aware of the number of U.S. service members wounded in Iran despite bragging about playing a crucial role in passing a Security Council resolution on Tehran. "Iran is in your job responsibility. Focus on it," Lieu said.

The California Democrat urged Waltz not to be "callous" about the lives and safety of American troops stationed in the Middle East, before asking if U.S. troops were currently stationed in Jordan. By this point, Lieu had raised the volume of his voice, and Waltz was clearly not happy. "Try to get re-elected," the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. snapped back. Lieu did not take the comment well either, and reminded Waltz that the results of November's midterm elections might not be good news for him.

When asked whether American troops were stationed in Jordan again, Waltz finally answered, "Of course they are." Lieu then raised concerns about the safety of the troops, as Iranian strikes in Jordan recently killed two American service members. One of them was only 19 years old. "Who are we going to have protect U.S. troops? They are exposed right now in the Middle East right now," he said.

The situation escalated into a shouting match between the two as Lieu tried expressing the danger of Iranian missiles targeting American troops in the Middle East, while Waltz seemingly spoke about troops who died during the Joe Biden administration. It did not take long for the California Representative to be pushed over the edge, as he made his opinions about the Ambassador to the U.N. clear.

"You don't even know how many US troops were wounded in this Iran War. Shame on you for not even knowing basic facts. You are the U.S. ambassador, and you don't even know how many U.S. troops were wounded in the Iran war. You got that wrong. You should be shameful. You don't know basic facts. You should resign. You don't even care about the number of U.S. troops that were wounded," Lieu said in his tirade, before accusing Waltz of giving "false information" to Congress.

Earlier, Lieu had asked Waltz how many U.S. troops were wounded due to the Iran war. Waltz said that his understanding from the latest numbers of the Department of Defense was more than 100. However, that number was a long way off the actual figure. The California Representative revealed that the real number was 482.

"It's not surprising to me you didn't know the answer to that. The reason you are here today is that you were fired by the president from your former position as National Security Adviser. You disclosed classified information that harmed American pilots and put them at risk," he added. Waltz was removed as National Security Advisor in 2025 by President Donald Trump due to the security leak, which happened when a journalist was mistakenly added to a Signal group that he created with top government officials, giving him access to sensitive military information.