Former President Donald Trump downplayed the injuries of troops who suffered traumatic brain injuries following missile strikes against a U.S. base at the end of his time in office, referring to them as “headaches” at a campaign event in Wisconsin on Tuesday.
Pentagon officials have said more than 100 U.S. troops were diagnosed with brain injuries following a missile attack at the Ain al-Asad base in Iraq in January 2020. The assault came in response to the American killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani in Iraq a few days earlier.
While the missiles did not directly strike any U.S. forces, the barrage of strikes caused dizziness, sensitivity to light, nausea and other traumatic brain injury symptoms in dozens of troops stationed there, Defense Department officials said. In some cases, the effects lasted for weeks or months, and multiple troops had to be evacuated to Germany for medical treatment.
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On Tuesday, when asked by a reporter if he wished he had been tougher on Iran, given the severity of the injuries incurred in that attack, Trump downplayed the result.
“What does ‘injured’ mean?” he said. “You mean because they had a headache? Because the bombs never hit the fort…”
“None of those very accurate missiles hit our fort. They all hit outside. There was nobody hurt, other than the sound was loud. Some people said that hurt, and I accept that.”
Nearly 80 troops received Purple Hearts for injuries related to the attack, most connected to traumatic brain injury. An inspector general report released in November 2021 hinted the number of injuries may have been even higher, because military officials did not properly document all of the troops’ health issues.
Trump’s comments drew immediate criticism from Democratic Party officials and prompted condemnation from Gov. Tim Walz during the vice presidential debate on Tuesday night.
Trump also claimed at the event that “there was nobody ever tougher” towards Iran than him. Walz, who served 24 years in the Army National Guard, disputed that at the debate in New York a few hours later.
“Iran is closer to a nuclear weapon than they were before because of Donald Trump’s fickle leadership,” Walz said. “And when Iranian missiles did fall near U.S. troops and they received traumatic brain injuries. Donald Trump wrote it off as ‘headaches.’”
Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate and a Marine Corps veteran, did not directly address the military injuries in his comments but blamed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris — the Democratic nominee for president — for weak policies toward Iranian aggression.
Trump has previously downplayed the severity of the Iranian missile attack against U.S. military forces. In the days following the attack, while he was still president, Trump called the injuries “not very serious” and labeled the damage caused as “minimal.”
Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.
