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Dover Transfer for Four
President Donald Trump attended a dignified transfer in Delaware on Wednesday for four American service members killed in the war with Iran, with their bodies received at Dover Air Force Base in the state of Delaware.
“Toggle Play Trump: Iran will ‘pay a big price’ for US troop deaths US President Trump warned that Iran will ‘pay a big price’ right before he attended the dignified transfer ceremony for four US troops killed in action in recent days”
The four were 1st Lt. Tyler Feehan, Sgt. Michael Swinton, Sgt. Angel Rampersad and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan Caine were also in attendance.
Asked what he will say to the families of the fallen service members, Trump told reporters, "All I'm going to say is 'we love you, we love your child.'"
Trump also warned Iran is "gonna pay a big price," as the Defense Department figures cited in the Anadolu Ajansı report put the total at 18 American service members killed and 447 others injured since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28.
The Hill reported the same Dover ceremony and said Trump warned Tehran would “pay the price” for the casualties, as the bodies of Feehan, Swinton, Rampersad and Gonzales were received by Trump and their families.
Trump’s Words and Political Pushback
At Dover Air Force Base, Trump told reporters, “They’re going to pay a big price. They’re being decimated,” as he spoke ahead of the dignified transfer when asked about a report that Iran targeted U.S. soldiers’ barracks.
The Hill also said Trump continued, “All of them said very strongly, ‘We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.’”
Democrats seized on the deaths of three U.S. troops killed in Iranian strikes to urge Trump to reverse the resumption of the war with Iran, and Chris Murphy, a Democratic senator for Connecticut, accused Trump of having “frighteningly lost control of this war”.
Mark Warner, the vice-chair of the Senate intelligence committee and a Democrat from Virginia, told CBS’s Face the Nation that there were “hundreds of seriously wounded” US personnel and called it “remarkable” that casualty figures had not been higher.
In the same Guardian account, Hegseth declared that the US would not be deterred by the casualties, writing: “Godspeed, heroes. Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve.”
War Costs, Next Moves, and Stakes
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers Tuesday that the U.S. war in Iran has cost $37.5 billion so far, and CBS News said the Pentagon identified the fourth service member believed to have been killed in recent days as the U.S. carried out more strikes.
“US military identifies third service member believed to have been killed in Iranian attack US military identifies third service member believed to have been killed in Iranian attack RALEIGH, N”
CBS News also reported that the U.S. military completed an 11th consecutive night of strikes on Iran at about 8:15 p.m. ET on Tuesday, with CENTCOM saying the targets included aircraft hangars, drone storage and operations centers to “further degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.”
In the same CBS update, Rubio warned that Iran controlling the Strait of Hormuz would threaten the world’s economy and the principle of freedom of navigation, saying, "we have created a very dangerous precedent which will repeat itself in other parts of the world."
The Guardian described the political stakes as Democrats pushed war powers resolutions aimed at restraining Trump, noting that the House and Senate have both passed war powers resolutions requiring the president to ask for congressional approval after 60 days of hostilities.
Meanwhile, Anadolu Ajansı said the US and Iran signed a Pakistani-mediated memorandum of understanding last month to end their conflict and reach a lasting peace agreement, but tensions escalated again last week regarding the Strait of Hormuz, with the two sides exchanging attacks.
