Donald Trump downplayed the brain injuries sustained by more than 100 American service members from an Iranian missile attack during his presidency while speaking at a campaign event on Tuesday.
The former president was asked about a 2020 ballistic missile attack on a U.S. base in Iraq and if he believed now that he should have been tougher on Iran after the incident that resulted in injured American troops.
Trump responded by downplaying the injuries.
“So, first of all, what does injured mean?" Trump said. "Injured means, you mean, because they had a headache? Because the bombs never hit the fort.
"So just so you understand, there was nobody ever tougher on Iraq," he continued, mistakenly saying Iraq instead of Iran. "They had no money with me, they woulda made any deal with me. I would have had a deal made within, literally, I woulda had a deal made within one week after the election."
The Department of Defense reported that at least 110 military members had been treated for traumatic brain injuries, with 77 returning to active duty soon after the strike, with several dozen requiring treatment in Germany and around two dozen others returning to the U.S. for treatment.
Nearly 80 troops received Purple Hearts for injuries related to the attack, most of which were connected to TBI, according to Military Times.
"And if you were a truthful reporter, which you're not," Trump said Tuesday in responding to the question, "you would tell the following: None of those very accurate missiles hit our fort. They all hit outside, and there was nobody hurt other than the sound was loud and some people said that hurt, and I accept that."
The Jan. 7, 2020 attack on al-Asasd Air Base in western Iraq was launched as retaliation for the Trump administration killing Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Iraq five days earlier.
Iran launched somewhere between 10 and 20 ballistic missiles in a barrage with some estimations that 10 hit the base, in the largest ballistic missile strike on American forces in history. There were no deaths, but several pieces of equipment including a Black Hawk helicopter. Due to advanced warning, more than 50 aircraft and 1,00 troops were evacuated from the base before the missiles struck.
After the attack, Trump tweeted "All is well!"
"Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world," he said the day after the attack.