OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
1:53 PM – Monday, July 20, 2026
Issuing a stark warning, President Donald Trump vowed that Iran would face severe retaliation and “pay many times over” for killing American troops.
In a Monday post to his Truth Social platform, Trump declared, “Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over!”
“This directive has been passed on to Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Daniel Caine, and every Leader in the Military,” Trump wrote.
Thus far, 17 American soldiers have been killed in the conflict with Iran after three passed over the weekend.
1st Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan, 25, and Private Isabella Gonzales, 19, were stationed at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, Jordan, when it was struck by a missile attack on Friday. Gonzales died on Friday, while Feehan passed the next day. A third individual was also killed following a “controlled detonation” of a downed Iranian drone in Iraq on Saturday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Sunday. The third person will not be identified publicly until after their next of kin is notified.
Additionally, a fourth military member is missing in action (MIA) after the attack in Jordan. Nonetheless, they are presumed to be deceased.
The U.S. had been engaged in a months-long ceasefire and signed a memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which had stipulated that Iran allow traffic to flow through the Strait of Hormuz, an essential waterway through which about a fifth of the world’s oil is exported out of the Gulf nations.
However, President Trump effectively threw out the MOU after Iran struck three commercial vessels traveling through the waterway, saying the ships had taken a U.S.-recommended route instead of one closer to Iran.
Trump is scheduled to attend a dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Tuesday evening to honor the fallen U.S. service members, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt noted.
“The President and the entire White House are praying for their families,” she wrote on social media.
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