Asked if Americans should worry about Iran retaliating against Americans on U.S. soil, President Donald Trump responded, “I guess.”
For the latest Timecover story titled “Trump’s War,” which was published on Thursday, March 5, correspondent Eric Cortellessa questioned Trump about the details of the unfolding war with Iran. In a pointed moment, he was asked whether it’s reasonable for Americans to have concerns about being attacked at home.
“I guess,” Trump, 79, responded. “But I think they’re worried about that all the time. We think about it all the time. We plan for it. But yeah, you know, we expect some things.”
“Like I said, some people will die,” the president added. “When you go to war, some people will die.”
His level-setting about possible American casualties comes days after six U.S. service members were killed in a retaliatory drone strike abroad following the joint U.S.-Israel attack on Iran.
The fallen service members have been identified as Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Fla.; Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Neb.; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minn.; Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa; and Maj. Jeffrey R. O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa. Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert M. Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, Calif., is “believed to be” the sixth individual who died as a result of the drone strike, the Pentagon said.
More than 1,000 people total were believed dead as of Wednesday, March 4, as a result of the conflict in the Middle East, which has impacted surrounding nations.
“Relief operations are ongoing, with 1,009 emergency response teams deployed across 153 affected counties,” the Iranian Red Crescent Society said, per the The Wall Street Journal.
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The Time cover story was released four days after three people, including the gunman, were killed and another 14 were injured in a mass shooting in Austin, Texas, that is being investigated by the FBI as a potential act of terrorism.
The 53-year-old gunman, later identified as Ndiaga Diagne, opened fire at Buford’s bar on West 6th Street in Austin just before 2 a.m. local time on March 1. According to reports from CNN, The Associated Press and CBS News, he was wearing a sweatshirt that said “Property of Allah” over a shirt that had the Iranian flag on it.
“Obviously, it’s still way too early in the process to determine an exact motivation, but there were indicators on the subject and then his vehicle that indicate a potential nexus to terrorism,” FBI San Antonio Acting Special Agent in Charge Alex Doran said in a press conference after the attack.