Trump says ‘we expect casualties’ after Iran strikes but ‘in the end it’s going to be a great deal for the world’
Hours after the U.S. military announced that three American service members had been killed in military strikes against Iran, President Donald Trump told NBC News: “We expect casualties in similar cases.” »
Trump added in a telephone interview: “We have three, but we expect casualties, but at the end of the day it will be a good deal for the world.” »
U.S. Central Command also said Sunday that five U.S. service members were injured during military operations against Iran, which began as a joint U.S.-Israeli operation early Saturday morning.
Strikes on Iran killed the country’s supreme leader, Trump announced Saturday. He told NBC News earlier in the day that a “large number” of other senior Iranian leaders were also killed during the military operation.
During Sunday’s phone call, the president said the U.S. military operation was “ahead of schedule” and that “when we have 48 leaders, that’s a big event.”
Since the first military action on Saturday, Iran has launched retaliatory strikes against Israel and US bases in the Middle East.
Asked on Sunday what results he hoped for from the US military operation in Iran, Trump replied: “There are many results that are good. The first is to decapitate them, to get rid of their entire group of killers and thugs. And there are many, many results. We could do the short version or the longer version.”
Trump added that Iranian officials do want to talk with the United States and are “talking,” although he did not provide the names of Iranian leaders in contact with the United States or explain what topics the negotiations were focused on.
The president responded “I don’t know” when asked if he would stop hitting Iran amid ongoing negotiations, adding that he would consider it “if they can satisfy us” but that “they haven’t been able to.”
He said the reason he launched the strikes was “very simple.”
“They were not willing to stop their nuclear research,” he said, referring to earlier negotiations with U.S. officials. “They weren’t willing to say they wouldn’t have a nuclear weapon.”
Later Sunday afternoon, Trump claimed in an article on Truth Social that “we have destroyed and sunk 9 Iranian naval ships, some of which are relatively large and important,” adding that the rest of the Iranian naval fleet is also being targeted and “will soon be floating on the bottom of the sea.”
He added that in another US-led attack, “we largely destroyed their naval headquarters.”
In a video posted to Truth Social early Saturday morning, shortly after the strikes against Iran began, Trump urged Iranian citizens to use this opportunity to seize power.
“It will be yours to take it. It will probably be your only chance for generations,” he said.
He has not publicly informed the American people of the ongoing military operation against Iran since the release of this video.
The strikes drew mixed reactions from lawmakers on both sides, with most Republicans praising the president’s decision to strike Iran and most Democrats criticizing Trump’s decision to strike without congressional authorization.
“It is in America’s interest to ensure that Iran can no longer be the largest state sponsor of terrorism,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Sunday morning on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
Sen. Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona, and Rep. Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, who appeared separately later on the show, refuted Graham’s statement.
“Let me say this: Khamenei was a brutal dictator, but Americans are no safer today,” Khanna told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker.
Kelly questioned the Trump administration’s goals in the military operation, saying: “Hope is not a strategy. We have to have a plan here. I mean, what is the strategic goal and how can we achieve it?”
When Congress returns to Washington this week, lawmakers are expected to vote on a war powers resolution that would require the president to seek congressional approval to conduct more military operations in Iran.
