SerpApi.Org
WASHINGTON — President Trump saluted four flag-draped caskets carrying the bodies of four US service members killed in the Iran war last week — shortly after telling journalists it was “one of the hardest things to do” for him.
Trump paid tribute to the fallen heroes at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware as an honor guard marched their remains to transport vans from inside a military cargo plane.
At one point a relative could be heard wailing as her loved one’s body was moved.
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“We’re going to honor them. And one of the hardest things to do for me, it’s one of the hardest things to do as a president. But has to be done,” Trump told reporters before departing Joint Base Andrews for the ceremony.
The president made the trip as he threatens to expand the war in retaliation for Iranian attacks on US troops and commercial ships — even as leading Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), urge a quick resolution to the conflict.
“What I’m going to say [to grieving relatives] is, ‘We love you. We love your child’… and all you can do is draw out your heart,” added the president, who also warned that Iran is “going to pay a big price” and was “being decimated.”
Three of the soldiers were killed in an Iranian missile strike on a Jordanian military base, while the fourth died during the controlled detonation of a downed Iranian drone in northern Iraq.
Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii; Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas; and Angel S. Rampersad, 28, of Ozone Park, NY, were killed in the Jordan attack.
Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of Spring Lake, NC, died in Iraq.
Before the dignified transfer, Trump dismissed polling showing a significant majority of Americans oppose the war.
“Americans aren’t against the war,” he said. “A poll just came out. Americans don’t want to have gasoline prices, but they’re not against the war. That just came out loud and clear in a poll. Nobody wants Iran to have a nuclear weapon. You want Iran to have a nuclear weapon? You think it’s good?”
Trump has been attempting for months to end the war, which he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched on Feb. 28, through negotiations with Tehran.
This month’s fighting ended a cease-fire in place since April 8, which was followed by a preliminary peace deal signed by Trump June 17.
That tentative agreement was cast aside after new Iranian attacks in the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said Tuesday that Iran was “probably” trying to hurt Republicans in the November midterms by continuing the war, while Johnson told reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday that “now we’ve got to wrap it up.”
