By Jeff Mason, Josh Wingrove, Bloomberg News
President Donald Trump honored six U.S. servicemembers killed in Kuwait during the war with Iran, attending a solemn ceremony as their remains returned to home soil.
Trump met with family members at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware as part of what the U.S. military calls a “dignified transfer” of Americans killed abroad — the first since the US and Israel began strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, prompting Iranian retaliation.
Trump, wearing a blue suit, red tie and white cap with a “USA” logo in golden letters, was joined by dignitaries including first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Trump acknowledged that Americans could die when he announced the start of the war, and he did so again on Saturday.
“When it comes to war, there’s always that, but we’re going to keep it to a minimum, I think,” he told a meeting of Latin American leaders in Doral, Florida, before heading to the air base.
The six servicemembers came home “in a different manner than they thought they’d be coming home, but they’re great heroes in our country,” Trump said, describing the war on Iran as “a service that we’re really providing, not for the Middle East, but for the world.”
Iran has reported at least 1,332 people killed, including the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on the war’s first day. Iran has launched missile and drone strikes across the Persian Gulf, targeting countries including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
Those retaliatory strikes have killed dozens more around the region, including the six US troops, who died after drone struck a command post in Kuwait. The US has multiple military bases across the Middle East and tens of thousands of troops in the region.
All six were killed at Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, and were members of a US Army unit out of Des Moines, Iowa.
Trump vowed as a presidential candidate to refrain from involving the US in wars, campaigning on an “America First” policy that resonates with his political base. The conflict in the Middle East is testing that support.
The president has said the U.S. attacks could last weeks and on Friday demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender.” While polls suggest most Republicans largely back the war, an increasing American death toll could test that support.
Trump attended several dignified transfers during his first term. In December, he paid tribute to two U.S. soldiers and an interpreter killed during an ambush in Syria.
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(With assistance from María Paula Mijares Torres.)
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