Trump at Dover: 'More Troops Will Die — It's Part of War'

US President Donald Trump attended the dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for six US Army Reserve soldiers killed in Kuwait during an Iranian strike — the first American combat deaths of the Iran war. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on his way back to Florida after the ceremony, Trump was asked whether he expects to return to Dover for more such ceremonies as the war continues. 'Oh yeah, I'm sure,' the president replied. 'I hate to do them, but it's a part of war, isn't it?' Trump then challenged the Washington Post reporter who asked the question, asking whether they would agree that death is a part of war. 'It's part of war,' he repeated. 'It's a sad part of war, it's the bad part of war.' The exchange is notable for several reasons. Trump acknowledged openly and without hesitation that the war will produce more American casualties — a frank admission that contrasts with his administration's earlier messaging that the campaign would be short and decisive. The dignified transfer itself — conducted with Trump in a Trump-branded golf cap worn since Mar-a-Lago — generated significant domestic media attention. The six soldiers are the first US military fatalities of the war and their deaths at a US base in Kuwait — a Gulf ally that received an Iranian apology from Pezeshkian the same day — underscores the tension between Iran's stated Gulf ceasefire and ongoing US military casualties in the region.