Former US President Donald Trump faced scrutiny regarding his handling of Iran’s missile strike on US forces in Iraq in January 2020. Trump however, seemed to downplay the attack during a campaign event in Milwaukee that reportedly led to more than 100 service members being diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injuries.
When pressed by a reporter about the severity of the attack, Trump said, “So first of all, injured.What does injured mean? Injured means — you mean because they had a headache? Because the bombs never hit the fort,”
Trump then shifted the discussion, highlighting his administration’s stance on Iraq. “So just so you understand, there was nobody ever tougher on Iraq,” Trump said (naming Iraq instead of Iran) “When you say not tough, they had no money. They would have made any deal with me. I would have had a deal made within one week of the election. They were dying to make a deal.”
The former president sought to counter the idea that American troops were significantly harmed during the attack. “And if you were a truthful reporter, which you’re not, you would tell the following: None of those very accurate missiles hit our fort,” he claimed. “They all hit outside, and there was nobody hurt other than the sound was loud and some people said that hurt, and I accept that.”
Trump’s statement contradicts assessments that revealed over 100 personnel were diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injuries.
The January 8 missile attack on the al Asad military base was a retaliatory strike following the US drone strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. Since then, the narrative surrounding the injuries has been disputed. Approximately 200 personnel who were in the blast zone have been screened for symptoms.