On the 20th, US President Trump posted on social media, hinting that after recent US military casualties, there will be tough retaliatory action taken against Iran.
He threatened, "For every American soldier killed by Iran, Iran will pay multiple times the price." He added that this order has already been conveyed to US Secretary of War Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Kane.
The US Central Command confirmed on the 18th that two US military personnel were killed on the 17th inside Jordan by an Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack, with another still missing. The following day, the US military announced that another American service member died on the 18th in northern Iraq while detonating a downed Iranian drone.
Additionally, according to a CNN report citing a US official, the US military is planning to send additional F-16 and F-35 fighter jets from bases in Europe, as well as increase the number of aerial refueling tankers.
Netanyahu Will Not Be Arrested in the US
Trump also stated that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will not in any way be arrested during his time in the United States.
He said that Netanyahu is confronting Iran, and that those who have dragged Iran into this unprecedented cycle of death and destruction are the ones who should truly be arrested.
Trump’s remarks were clearly a response to comments from New York City Mayor Mamdani about the possibility of arresting Netanyahu during this year’s United Nations General Assembly.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant in 2024 for Netanyahu over Israel’s military operations in Gaza, accusing him of suspected crimes against humanity and war crimes. The United States is not a signatory to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, nor has it ever recognized the court’s jurisdiction. In recent years, the US has multiple times announced sanctions against ICC judges and prosecutors, citing the court’s investigations of US personnel and its issuance of arrest warrants for the Israeli Prime Minister and former Defense Minister.