Howard Lutnick apologizes for incorrect claim on Iran war casualties

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has issued an apology after mistakenly claiming during a CNBC interview that no Americans had died in the war with Iran. Lutnick stated he was actually thinking about a military operation in Venezuela, where no service members were killed.

Lutnick clarified his error on the social media platform X, stating, “I misspoke. 18 members of our military have died, and to those families my heart breaks and I am so very sorry for their loss.” The error occurred while Lutnick was discussing the administration's economic approach to Iran during the G20 innovation summit.

President Trump defended the Commerce Secretary on Truth Social, suggesting Lutnick had Venezuela in mind when making the statement. To date, the United States has reported 18 military fatalities and over 750 injuries related to the conflict in Iran.