Iran is a joke to Trump. Our US casualties aren't laughing. | Opinion
Trump's Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick went on CNBC and claimed no Americans have died in the Iran war. Will he call up the families of the 18 service members who have died and tell them the same?
Rex HuppkeAs President Donald Trump’s folly of a war with Iran continues, it seems the whole thing has become a joke to him and his administration.
On Sept. 2, Trump posted this on his Truth Social account: “Now that we have it under U.S.A. control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT??? Like America itself, it would be 'hotter' than ever before!”
What the hell are you doing, man? This is a war, not the "Washed-Up Reality Gameshow Star Comedy Hour." And maybe ask Americans struggling to afford gas and ground beef whether America is “hotter” than ever before.
Trump and his White House act like the Iran war is funny
The official White House account on X quickly followed up, posting a fake map of the Middle East with the Strait of Hormuz labeled “Trump Strait,” which is a brain-meltingly stupid thing to do as we’re in a war with missiles flying and, far less important, NOT THE WAY YOU WOULD WRITE THE JOKE!
Nobody other than the 80-year-old loon who got us into this war calls it the “Hormuz Strait.” It’s the Strait of Hormuz, so the proper wordplay would be “the Strait of Trump,” and I can’t believe I’m even quibbling over something this unbearably asinine.
According to Defense Department data, 18 service members have died, and more than 750 have been wounded since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28.
Knowing this administration’s penchant for dishonesty, the actual numbers are likely higher.
Commerce secretary pretends there have been no deaths in Iran war
Why would I suspect Trump and Co. of trying to downplay the human cost of this war? Perhaps because Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was on CNBC Sept. 2 and, while slavishly praising Trump’s handling of the Iran war, said: “There haven't been American deaths, it's really just an economic choke-out.”
Secretary Lutnick, kindly tell that to the families of the 18 service members who have been killed in this war. Call them up and let them know you were just on TV assuring the American people that “there haven’t been American deaths.”
Hundreds upon hundreds of U.S. soldiers have been wounded in this war of choice. And the fighting shows no sign of letting up.
Trump's wildly unpopular war with Iran continues unabated
Over the past two days, Iran fired missiles at U.S. bases across the Middle East in response to earlier American strikes on Iranian military targets.
This is a deadly and dangerous conflict, one that only 31% of Americans support, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Yet Trump seems fine making jokes about the “TRUMP STRAIT,” as if smart-a-- social media posts can win a war. And people in the administration like Lutnick can easily forget, or intentionally ignore, the men and women who’ve been killed or wounded.
What kind of people make light of a war that's leaving hundreds wounded?
There’s a sickness about all of this. Trump and his lackeys possess a twisted ability to ignore the lives that hang in the balance, to ignore the will of the American people and to brush off the economic pain this war is causing us all with childish jokes and brazen deception.
Has there ever been a wartime president this flippant? And would any Republican in power care to question the sanity of a leader who seems obsessed with renaming bodies of water and wholly ignorant of the vast harm he’s causing?
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk.