Trump Talks to NY Post

President Trump defended the war in Iran after the deaths of two GIs in a call with the NY Post yesterday, saying the the troops made the ultimate sacrifice.

Furious Trump defends war, launches revenge attacks on Iran after Islamic Republic kills 2 American service members

By Caitlin Doornbos, NY Post, July 18, 2026:

President Trump defended the war with Iran as the US launched retaliatory strikes on Tehran for the deaths of two American service members in a call with The Post on Saturday, saying the troops made the ultimate sacrifice to prevent the regime from obtaining a nuclear weapon — and warned the region could descend into wider conflict if Tehran isn’t stopped.

Speaking about an hour into the latest US bombing campaign, Trump called the deaths “a shame” but argued the mission remains critical.

“They did it because they don’t want to see Iran have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said of the troops. “… And it just shows you how bad [the Iranians] are.”

When asked whether he planned to contact the families of the two service members, Trump responded without hesitation.

The US military unleashed an 8th consecutive night of strikes against Iran Saturday — starting their blitz at 6 p.m., completing it five and a half hours later at 11: 30 p.m.

The latest barrage targeted Iranian military coastal surveillance and air defense facilities, maritime assets, and missile and drone storage sites as part of an ongoing campaign to weaken Tehran’s military capabilities, according to US Central Command.

US forces also struck Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) positions linked to attacks on American service members in Jordan on July 17, the military said.

The airstrikes were designed to further degrade the regime’s ability to “threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM said in an earlier statement.

Earlier Saturday, Trump told NewsNation that he “couldn’t care less” that Iran announced they had exited the Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries, adding that the troops died “in service to their country.”

Following that, the Pentagon deployed additional warplanes toward the Gulf region, according to the Wall Street Journal.

F-16s are being sent from Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany, and stealth fighter jets, US F-35s, are flying to the region from a US Air Base in Britain, the outlet reported.

Additional refueling planes had already been sent to the region in recent days.

The president also defended the war after several Democratic members of Congress made statements blaming him for the troops’ deaths.

Continued….