Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick apologized Thursday for erroneously claiming that no Americans had been killed during the war in Iran, insisting he had Venezuela on his mind. Lutnick, 65, apologized in a post on X a day after an interview on CNBC in which he characterized the Trump administration's approach to Iran as largely driven by economics, later saying he "misspoke" when making the gaffe. "18 members of our military have died, and to those families my heart breaks and I am so very sorry for their loss," Lutnick wrote.
"I was thinking about the Venezuelan military operation where no service members died." Lutnick said he was "deeply thankful for our military" while noting his brother and hundreds of other close friends and colleagues were killed during the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. Lutnick's blunder caught the eye of President Donald Trump, who corrected the commerce secretary in a Truth Social post about an hour before his mea culpa. Lutnick had Venezuela on his mind when he said nobody was killed," Trump wrote early Thursday.
"18 people were killed in Iran!" As of early Thursday, 18 U.S. service members have been killed and more than 750 others wounded in the ongoing conflict in Iran, which began on February 28: Gonzales, a 19-year-old originally from Carrollton, Texas, died on July 17 during an attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. The Army soldier had been assigned to the 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 10th Army Air Missile Defense Command, in Ansbach, Germany. Feehan, a 25-year-old native of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, died on July 18 following an attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base.
He had been assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 32nd Army Air Missile Defense Command, in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Khork, a 35-year-old member of the Army Reserve from Winter Haven, Florida, died on March 1 in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, during an unmanned aircraft system attack. He had been assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines, Iowa.
Tietjens, of Bellevue, Nebraska, died on March 1 during an unmanned aircraft system attack in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait. The 42-year-old had been assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines. Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, also died during the unmanned aircraft system attack in Port Shuaiba on March 1.
The Army reservist had been assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines. O'Brien, of Waukee, Iowa, died on March 1 following the attack in Port Shuaiba. The 45-year-old had been assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines.
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