Trump Again Dismisses U.S. Troop Injuries From 2020 Iranian Attack As ‘Headaches’

Former President Donald Trump once again dismissed traumatic brain injuries sustained by American troops during a 2020 ballistic missile strike in Iran, diminishing the injuries as mere “headaches” when asked if he should have been tougher on Tehran.

“You mean because they had a headache?” he said Tuesday when asked about the more than 100 U.S. soldiers injured in the blasts. “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.”

He went on to say that “there was nobody ever tougher on Iraq,” while appearing to confuse Iran with Iraq.

More than 100 U.S. soldiers were injured after 11 missiles were dropped over the Ain al-Asad airbase on Jan. 8, 2020. At least 45 of those wounded were later diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries or TBIs, the Pentagon had said.

Staff Sgt. Rebecca McMillan, who was one of 50 U.S. soldiers to later receive a Purple Heart for her injuries in the attack, said the blast changed the way she’s able to process emotions.

“It messes with your emotions, it messes with your brain, in kind of how you process things,” McMillan said in a 2022 interview about her lasting injuries.

“I just don’t know how to control my emotions correctly anymore,” she said while expressing gratitude for the compassion and empathy she had received from her then-fiancé, SFC Daine Kvasager, who also received a Purple Heart following the blast.

Kvasager, in a separate interview with CBS News in 2021, said he was left with vision and hearing problems, as well as constant headaches and memory loss.

“The person I was prior to a traumatic brain injury, he’s gone,” he said. “There’s parts that remain. The pieces are all still there, just — yeah, he’s not