Overview
- Reporting says President Trump met with service members during a Walter Reed medical visit but did not see the 14 troops recovering there who were wounded in the Iran conflict.
- The White House said the president was honored to meet service members and medical staff but repeatedly declined to say whether any soldiers from Operation Epic Fury were part of the meeting.
- The Defense Department has reported 409 U.S. troops injured in the Iran war and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Congress that roughly 90 percent have returned to duty.
- One of the wounded at Walter Reed, Sgt. Cory Hicks, suffered a lacerated kidney, a severed spleen and a traumatic brain injury after a March drone attack in Kuwait and is still in recovery.
- The omission has revived scrutiny of presidential practice and transparency, noting past presidential visits to wounded troops and earlier controversies over the president's comments and medical disclosures.