Donald Trump’s administration has confirmed that more U.S. service members have died in the president’s new war in the Middle East.
U.S. Central Command wrote on X on Friday that all six crew members have died after a refueling plane went down in western Iraq. That brings the total number of American fatalities in the conflict so far to 11.
“The circumstances of the incident are under investigation. However, the loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire,” the Defense Department division said. “The identities of the service members are being withheld until 24 hours after next of kin have been notified.”
It follows the deaths of at least seven other service members, and around 140 U.S. casualties, since Trump launched his new conflict with Iran on Feb. 28, plunging the Middle East into chaos and sending global oil prices skyrocketing.
The president has been clear that he expects more American soldiers to die in the ongoing hostilities.
“We pray for the full recovery of the wounded and send our immense love and eternal gratitude to the families of the fallen,” he said earlier this week. “And, sadly, there will likely be more before it ends. That’s the way it is. Likely be more.”
Trump has struggled to offer a clear timeline or rationale for his campaign. He has said the conflict could end “very soon,” in four to five weeks, or last “forever,” and lately insisted the U.S. is now bombing Iran to protect U.S. interests from Iranian bombs in the event Iran is bombed.
Six U.S. service members—Capt. Cody Khork, Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, Chief Warrant Officer Robert Marzan, Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor and Noah Tietjens, and Sgt. Declan Cody–-were killed on the first day of Trump’s war by an Iranian drone strike on a U.S. base in Kuwait. Sgt. Benjamin Pennington later died of injuries sustained in an Iranian attack on a facility in Saudi Arabia.
The president’s flip-flopping on the scope and goals of his war, and its accelerating effects on oil prices and the wider global economy, have sparked concern among voters already worried about rising unaffordability in the U.S., and anxiety among Republican lawmakers ahead of what already promises to be a bruising midterm battle in November.
Allies have also struggled to discern the president’s motives and aims. Trump held a video call with G7 leaders Wednesday, during which he reportedly came across as “ambiguous and noncommittal.”
“Some participants left thinking he wants to end the war, others felt the complete opposite,” Axios reported of that conversation. Speaking after the call, French President Emmanuel Macron said: “It will be up to the president of the United States to clarify both his final objectives and the pace he intends to give to the operations.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the Pentagon and the White House for comment on this story.
