Trump Asked Point-Blank How Many American Deaths He’s Willing to Accept in Iran War

During his Monday evening press conference at his Trump National Doral resort in Florida, President Donald Trump was asked point-blank how many American deaths he would be willing to accept in the ongoing war with Iran.

Trump took questions from reporters, following a series of remarks in which he announced that U.S. military operations in Iran are ahead of his administration’s “initial timeline” and proclaimed his preference for U.S.-favorable, “internal and eternal” leadership in Iran.

“As of today, there have been eight U.S. military fatalities associated with the war in Iran,” the off-camera reporter said in framing what would be the concluding question of the press conference.” How many American deaths are you willing to have in this war?”

The conflict began on Feb. 28 when the U.S. and Israel conducted a joint operation in Iran during which Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, was killed. His son, Mojtaba Khamenei, has been announced as Iran’s new Supreme Leader.

To date, eight U.S. military personnel have been killed in conflicts associated with the war with Iran, and eight others have been seriously wounded. Earlier Monday, in a phone call with CBS News White House Correspondent Weijia Jiang, Trump declared the Iran War to be “very complete, pretty much.”

The president avoided answering the reporter’s question with any specific numbers.

“Well, as I said before, when you have conflicts like this, you always have casualties,” he said. “I was at Dover yesterday, I meant the parents, and they were unbelievable people. They were unbelievable people, but they all had one thing in common. They said to me one thing, every single one: ‘Finish the job, sir. Please finish the job.’ And I’ll leave you at that.”

Watch the clip above via CNN.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!