Back at Camp David, as he was confronted by Trump over the bare weapons stockpile, Hegseth defended himself and blamed his deputy, Stephen Feinberg, for the shortages and for not ensuring Trump was fully apprised of the issue, both people familiar said.

The United States recorded at least 17 life-threatening casualties during the first phase of the forever war with Iran, according to newly obtained Defense Department records that provide the most detailed accounting yet of troops wounded in the conflict. More than 400 casualties were recorded between Feb. 28 and April 8, with Army personnel accounting for most of the casualties.

At an event on Thursday, Trump again argued that the death toll from his war on Iran was low compared to that of Vietnam, the war he did not serve in as a young man.

"You know, we were in Vietnam for 20 years, lost thousands and hundreds of thousands of lives," Trump said, inflating the actual death toll among US troops of 58,220.

The five-month-long conflict has exposed America’s strategic vulnerabilities and reflected poorly on the Pentagon’s reputation, some analysts add. U.S. firepower, overwhelming though it may be, has so far failed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or bring the regime back to the negotiating table.

What he's saying: "I am considering a massive attack. Bigger than ever before. I am close to making a decision. We are all set for it," the president said.

Disgraceful POS...

“They are indeed great heroes, actually. All of them said very strongly, ‘We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon’ ... So we’re going to honor them,” Trump told reporters shortly before the servicemembers’ dignified transfers.

Defense Casualty Analysis System

Now, as Trump looks to extract himself from the highly unpopular war, he's offering more confounding signals about the state of Iran's nuclear threat.

Resident Donald Trump mistakenly said the "Islamic Republic of Japan" fired 111 missiles at a U.S. aircraft carrier "a few months ago."

He made the comments July 8 while speaking to the press alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.

"If you look at what happened with Iraq, we did so bad, that was such a foolish thing, what we did. Shouldn’t have been there in the first place, by the way, and we shouldn’t have been in Iran," he said during an interview with his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, which aired on Fox News on Saturday evening.

But since her son Maj. John ‘Alex’ Klinner was killed in the Iran war, those memories have become both a comfort and a painful reminder of the “nightmare” her life has felt like in the past couple of months.

Iran has reportedly caused billions of dollars in damage to U.S. military assets and bases in the Gulf region, sparking questions about the Trump administration’s transparency regarding potential costs for repairs.