Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick apologized Thursday for saying in an interview that no American service members have died supporting military operations in Iran, claiming that he “misspoke” and accidentally conflated the conflict with another U.S. operation in Venezuela.
Lutnick incorrectly stated the death toll during a CNBC appearance Wednesday, saying, “The way the president is playing Iran — there haven’t been American deaths, it’s really just an economic choke out.”
At least 18 service members have died and more than 400 troops have been wounded in action as the military campaign in Iran stretches into six months with no clear end in sight. The Pentagon has reclassified the deaths of four service members, all of whom were killed during an Iranian ballistic missile attack in Jordan in late July, as part of “overseas operations” instead of Operation Epic Fury, the military’s name for the initial conflict with Iran.
Lutnick clarified in a post to X Thursday he was thinking about the military operation in January to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, which reportedly injured seven American troops and killed about 100 Venezuelans.
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“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 of the Iran war. “As the 25th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, I am deeply thankful for our military and the sacrifices the men and women who serve our great country make, so such an attack, where I lost my brother Gary (36), my best friend Doug (39) and 656 other close friends and colleagues in the attacks on the World Trade Center, never happens again. Never!”
President Donald Trump also issued a clarification on Lutnick’s behalf Thursday.
“Sec. Lutnick had Venezuela on his mind when he said nobody was killed,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “18 people were killed in Iran!”
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