While two U.S. Army soldiers were fighting to survive after their Apache helicopter went down near the coast of Oman, President Donald Trump chose to board Marine One — headed to the NBA Finals.
According to U.S. Central Command, two crew members from a U.S. Army AH-64 Apache were rescued at 7:33 p.m. ET on June 8 — "within approximately two hours" of the helicopter going down, placing the crash around 5:33 p.m. ET. White House communications staffer Margo Martin posted video of Trump boarding Marine One in Bedminster, New Jersey, at 6:57 p.m. — meaning he departed before that, while the rescue was actively underway.
Trump arrived at Madison Square Garden, where the crowd booed him loudly — then watched the Knicks lose to the San Antonio Spurs, 115-111.
The next afternoon, Trump claimed he'd only just learned of the incident.
"I have just been informed by our Great Military that last night the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters…" he wrote on Truth Social at 12:38 p.m. on June 9 — more than 19 hours after the helicopter went down.
CENTCOM's official statement tells a different story. The military said only that the helicopter "went down" and that "the cause of the incident is under investigation." No mention of Iran. No confirmed shootdown. Trump also called the rescued soldiers "pilots" — CENTCOM called them "crew members."
The incident lands days after the House voted 215-208 to invoke the War Powers Act and force Trump to end hostilities with Iran — a conflict his administration insists is already over. The U.S. naval blockade of Iran, which experts told Reuters amounts to an act of war, remains in place.