President Donald Trump attended a dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for six U.S. service members killed in a refueling aircraft crash over friendly territory in western Iraq while supporting operations against Iran, according to multiple reports. The event was closed to the press at the families' request, but images from the ceremony were later posted on social media by the White House.
Key Takeaways
President Trump attended a closed press ceremony at Dover Air Force Base to honor six service members killed in an Iraqi refueling aircraft crash. The families requested no media coverage but allowed official photography, which the White House later posted on social media.
- Six U.S. service members were honored at Dover AFB after dying in an Iraq refueling plane crash
- Families barred press from ceremony but allowed White House to post photos online
- Pentagon reports 13 total U.S. deaths and about 200 injuries in Operation Epic Fury
- Trump attended with top military officials including Defense Secretary Hegseth
- Incident occurred over friendly airspace, cause under investigation
The six crew members of a KC-135 Air Force refueling aircraft were killed last week in the crash. They were from Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Washington state. The crash brought the U.S. death toll in Operation Epic Fury to at least 13 service members, with about 200 injured, including 10 severely.
Trump was accompanied by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and lawmakers including Sens. Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt. The crash followed an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in 'friendly airspace' over Iraq but was not due to hostile or friendly fire.
As reported by PBS News, while presenting a trophy to the Navy football team earlier that day, Trump mentioned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine were in the White House Situation Room monitoring developments as the Iran conflict continues. The president also stated that 'We're doing extremely well,' without providing further details.
The families of the fallen service members requested that the media not cover the event, and it was closed to press coverage in accordance with military policy. Trump spent just under two hours on the ground and did not speak to reporters leaving Air Force One or returning to it. The White House posted images from the ceremony on social media, including several showing the transfer cases of at least one of the bodies.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told HuffPost that 'The families did not agree to press. They agreed to official photography.' Leavitt did not respond to a follow-up question asking whether the families had been informed that the photos would be posted on social media rather than kept for archival purposes.
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