Trump gets testy as reporters ask him about deploying troops and service members killed during Iran war

President Trump swerved a question from a female reporter about the U.S. Military personnel killed in the Iran War during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One on Sunday.

So far, at least 13 American service members have been killed since the United States and Israel first launched attacks on the Islamic Republic on February 28. Six of those troops were killed early in the conflict when Iran launched a drone attack against a military base in Kuwait.

“Do you have a comment on the six service members who passed?” a journalist asked.

While being asked the question, Trump stared intently at the journalist. When they finished, he abruptly turned away.

“Go ahead,” he told the other reporters. “Who else?”

Later on Sunday, the president posted multiple lengthy Truth Social posts, attacking the media for its coverage of the Iran War, the Supreme Court justices who voted against his tariffs, and championing Fox News host Mark Levin.

Earlier, during that same press gaggle, Trump seemingly dodged other questions from the same journalist.

The reporter asked the president about a photograph of him at a dignified transfer ceremony of six service members killed in the Iran war. The image had been used in a fundraising email for his political action committee.

When asked whether the use of the image was appropriate, Trump said, “I do.”

The journalist followed up by questioning whether Trump was raising money from the fallen troops. Then, the president changed tack and said that he “didn’t see” the email.

“I mean, somebody puts it out,” he said. “We have a lot of people working for us.

“But there’s nobody that’s better to the military than me,” Trump continued. “And all you have to do is look at the election. Look at the election results.

“Look at the kind of votes that we get,” the president added. “Look at the poll numbers. There’s nobody that has ever been higher as a president than me with the military.”

Then, Trump asked the reporter where she was from. She responded by saying that she was working for ABC News.

Trump replied by describing the organization as “one of the worst, most fake, most corrupt.”

After an exchange about the dead soldiers, Trump added, “OK, I don’t want any more from ABC News.”

The president has repeatedly bragged about the United States’ military successes in its conflict with Iran.

Yesterday, he claimed that an Iranian oil facility had been “totally demolished” but that the U.S. could continue to bomb the site “just for fun.”

Last week, he said that there is “practically nothing left to target” in Iran.

Meanwhile, questions have continued to be raised over the cost of the war.

The U.S. allegedly used $11.3 billion worth of munitions in the first week of the war, sources told The New York Times.

The sources claimed that Pentagon officials confirmed the figure in a closed-door briefing last week, with the huge sum not including the cost of the United States’ huge military buildup in the Middle East.

Oil prices have spiked as a result of the conflict, too, putting pressure on Trump domestically after he promised to lower energy prices during his presidential campaign.