U.S. President Donald Trump salutes as members of the military carry the transfer case of U.S. Army Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad of the 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 10th Army Air Missile Defense Command, who was killed during an attack at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, during a dignified transfer of his remains at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, U.S., July 22, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
President Donald Trump faced sharp criticism Wednesday from MS NOW host Stephanie Ruhle over his defense of the Iran war escalation.
On Truth Social, Trump posted a comparison of American deaths across multiple conflicts. He listed the Iran military conflict at "4 months, 18 DEAD" alongside Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam, and Korea.
Ruhle expressed disbelief at the post, arguing Trump was "basically saying only 18 [dead], we should take that as a win." She also highlighted another Truth Social post, where the president appears to threaten Iran's infrastructure, a war crime according to the International Humanitarian Law Database.
"Any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran," Trump wrote.
“I mean, that was a kind of a shocking post to me to put up,” Former New York Times reporter Luke Broadwater began as Ruhle interrupted, “Even for him, shocking.”
He continued, noting it came the day before a dignified transfer of deceased American troops.
Broadwater also emphasized, families of fallen soldiers would find the post deeply offensive, adding, "If you're the families of some of those troops and you see him minimizing their deaths like that, I think that that strikes the wrong note."
“But to your question at large, the American people have never supported this war. The polling for it has never been positive,” he said.
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