Rutnick's statement that there were no US casualties in the Iran war... Trump explains 'Venezuela story'

Rutnick says there were no U.S. casualties in the Iran war... Trump explains, "I'm talking about Venezuela"

(Washington = Yonhap News) Correspondent Hong Jeong-gyu = When U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Rutnick sparked controversy with his statement that "there were no American deaths in the war with Iran," President Donald Trump belatedly picked it up.

President Trump said on the social media Truth Social on the 3rd (local time), “18 (US soldiers) were killed in Iran.”

“Secretary Rutnick had Venezuela in mind when he said no one was killed,” Trump said.

This means that there were no deaths in the US military operation that arrested former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January of this year.

It appears that President Trump himself took action out of concern that the death of U.S. troops in the Iran war is a sensitive issue and could easily offend public sentiment. In the United States, there is a culture of special respect for war veterans.

Minister Rutnick also posted a post on

He explained, "18 of our soldiers died (in the Iran war). I was thinking about the military operation in Venezuela," and then added, "I deeply regret the loss of the bereaved families."

“As the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks approaches, I am deeply grateful for the sacrifices of our military and service members,” he said, adding that he lost his younger brother, close friend, and colleague to the September 11 attacks.

Earlier, Secretary Rutnick said in an interview with CNBC the previous day, "I think the way the president handled Iran was that there were no American deaths."

“It's really just an economic stranglehold, and the administration is doing it more broadly, and I think it's going to be very effective,” he said.

As the controversy over Minister Rutnick's remarks spread, the U.S. media conducted a 'fact check' and pointed out that this statement was different from the facts.