March 1, 2026
This morning, U.S. Central Command posted on social media that three service members have been killed in action in Operation Epic Fury and five more are seriously wounded. It continued: “Several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions—and are in the process of being returned to duty. Major combat operations continue and our response effort is ongoing.”
Democratic leaders reacted to the news with comments like this one by Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA): “My thoughts are with the families of these servicemembers, and their loved ones. And I continue to pray for the safety of every servicemember and the recovery of those wounded in these operations. May God protect our troops.” Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz—the same man who invited Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg to the Signal chat about striking Yemen—suggested the soldiers’ sacrifice for the country was worthwhile, writing: “Freedom is never free.”
In a phone call with Peter Nicholas and Alexandra Marquez of NBC News, Trump said: “We expect casualties with something like this.” He added: “We have three, but we expect casualties, but in the end it’s going to be a great deal for the world.”
Later today, Trump told the American people: “As one nation we grieve for the true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. Even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives, we pray for the full recovery of the wounded and send our immense love and eternal gratitude to the families of the fallen. And sadly, there will likely be more before it ends. That’s the way it is. Likely be more. But we’ll do everything possible where that won’t be the case. But America will avenge their deaths and deliver the most punishing blow to the terrorists who have waged war against, basically, civilization. They have waged war against civilization itself.”
Trump was hosting a fund raiser at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, as the U.S. offensive began. The New York Times reported last November that tickets for the dinner dance were $1 million apiece. The optics of Trump partying with his rich cronies while American soldiers died is at least partly what is behind the fact that today, “#SendBarron” trended on social media.
Strikes continued today in the Middle East as Israel and the U.S. hit Iran and Iran retaliated against Israel and U.S. bases in the region. Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon joined the fight by sending missiles into Israel. Israel responded with an attack on the suburbs of Beirut. Oil prices jumped sharply as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz at the outlet of the Persian Gulf, through which about 20% of the world’s oil passes, dropped almost to a halt.
After yesterday’s euphoria coming from the administration following the first strikes against Iran, today revealed that the administration had not given much thought to whether the strikes were legitimate or what would happen after them. Administration officials did not appear on the Sunday talk shows, relying instead on congressional surrogates. Brian Stelter and Kit Maher reported that journalists have been working around the White House press office, calling Trump directly, and he has been willing to talk.
Trump told NBC News reporters Nicholas and Marquez that he launched the strikes because “They weren’t willing to stop their nuclear research. They weren’t willing to say they will not have a nuclear weapon.” When asked if he would stop the strikes and negotiate, he said: “I don’t know,” but said he would consider it “if they can satisfy us,” adding that “they haven’t been able to.”
Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen, and Jennifer Hansler of CNN reported this evening that briefers from the Pentagon today told congressional staff that Iran had not been planning to attack U.S. forces or bases in the Middle East unless Israel attacked first. Trump administration officials said on Saturday that Iran was planning to strike the U.S. preemptively and thus posed an imminent threat. The briefers said there was no intelligence to support that claim.
Trump seems unclear about the end game of the conflict he has started.
When NBC News reporters Nicholas and Marquez asked him what he hoped to accomplish through the military operation, he said: “There are many outcomes that are good. Number one is decapitating them, getting rid of their whole group of killers and thugs. And there are many, many outcomes. We could do the short version or the longer version.”
He told Michael Scherer of The Atlantic that Iran’s new leadership wants to talk with him and that he will do so, suggesting that he was not, in fact, interested in regime change. “They should have done it sooner, Michael. They could have made a deal. They should’ve done it sooner. They played too cute,” Trump said. But then Trump told Scherer he had confidence that the Iranian people would launch an uprising against the Iranian government.
Kristen Welker of Meet the Press this morning quoted Trump’s statement of yesterday saying “Hopefully, [Iranian troops] and Police will peacefully merge with the Iranian Patriots, and work together as a unit to bring back the Country to the Greatness it deserves.”
Then Welker asked her guest, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), “Is ‘hope’ the plan for the future of Iran?” Graham said: “No, the future of Iran is going to be determined by the Iranian people. The new Iran, whatever it is…our goal is to make sure it cannot become again the largest state sponsor of terrorism.” Welker responded: “But is there a plan to make sure that happens…does the president have a plan to guarantee that that happens?” Graham responded with some heat: “No. It’s not his job or my job to do this.”
Apparently, U.S. officials simply hoped the Iranian people would seize the government if their leaders were killed in airstrikes. But there was a line of succession, and the country’s police state remains in place. Erin Banco of Reuters reported yesterday that before the attacks, analysts for the Central Intelligence Agency assessed that if Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were killed, younger hard-line men could replace him.
Trump told Zolan Kanno-Youngs, David E. Sanger, and Tyler Pager of the New York Times that he intends to keep bombing Iran for “four to five weeks” if necessary. He spoke repeatedly of an outcome like that of Venezuela, in which the U.S. removed the top leader but left the rest of the government intact. Trump told the reporters he hoped Iran’s military forces would turn over their weapons to the Iranian people. “They would really surrender to the people, if you think about it,” he said.
The New York Times reporters note that the security forces he says should surrender to the people were the ones that killed thousands of protesters in January. Trump refused to say that the administration would defend the Iranian people if they did rise up.
ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl spoke to Trump tonight and posted: “Pres Trump told me tonight the US had identified possible candidates to take over Iran, but they were killed in the initial attack. ‘The attack was so successful it knocked out most of the candidates,’ Trump told me. ‘It’s not going to be anybody that we were thinking of because they are all dead. Second or third place is dead.’”
In the midst of today’s military operation and all his calls with reporters, Trump took to social media to repost more than 40 social media posts with over-the-top praise for his State of the Union address. The posts appeared to be curated, suggesting that someone is feeding him praise.
National security scholar Tom Nichols posted on social media: “People predicting disaster: The odds are in your favor, but you cannot be sure, and you should not hope to be right. People celebrating: Maybe wanna wait a bit. The odds, historically, are definitely not on your side. Anyone certain they know what happens next is making it up.”
