President Donald Trump has accused his commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, of making a mistake when he claimed that no American soldiers had been killed in the conflict with Iran. Trump suggested that Lutnick was thinking about a different U.S. military operation in Venezuela when he made the statement. This claim contradicts the Pentagon’s official count of 18 U.S. service members killed in the ongoing U.S.-Israel war against Iran, leading to criticism of the administration’s handling of the conflict, which has now entered its sixth month. In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump wrote: "Sec. Lutnick had Venezuela on his mind when he said nobody was killed. 18 people were killed in Iran!" Lutnick had previously appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box and described the Trump administration’s strategy toward Iran as primarily economic, calling it an "economic choke-out." During the interview, he mistakenly claimed that no American soldiers had died in the conflict and expressed optimism that bond markets would respond positively to the approach. Lutnick later acknowledged the error, stating on X (formerly Twitter) that he had been thinking of the U.S. operation in Venezuela, where U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January with minimal U.S. casualties. However, the operation reportedly caused significant casualties in Venezuela, with 47 deaths reported by local authorities and 32 Cuban military and police personnel killed, according to Cuban officials. Meanwhile, Iranian authorities reported heavy casualties from recent U.S. airstrikes. Iran’s health ministry stated that Tuesday’s strikes killed 18 people and wounded 108, while the country’s Red Crescent confirmed that four people were killed and 67 wounded when a U.S. strike hit a wedding near the Strait of Hormuz, where a child also died. Reuters confirmed the location of the damaged building using satellite imagery. A U.S. Central Command spokesperson, Captain Tim Hawkins, said the U.S. military does not target civilians and that the reports, which originated from Iranian state media, were under review. The strikes were part of a broader operation targeting Iranian air defense systems, radar installations, maritime assets, mine-laying equipment, and communications sites near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which a large portion of the world’s oil passes. The Pentagon’s ability to independently verify civilian casualties has been significantly reduced, with its Civilian Protection Center of Excellence cut from 40 staff to nine since last year, according to the Pentagon’s own inspector general. Additionally, the department has stopped developing a database to track civilian harm from U.S. operations. This incident highlights a growing tension in how the White House is framing the conflict. While officials have emphasized the economic costs of the war, which are estimated to be at least $37.5 billion as of July, the campaign has also led to U.S. military deaths, Iranian civilian casualties, and rising oil prices. A recent poll from UMass-Amherst found that 54% of Americans disapprove of the war initiated by the U.S. and Israel, and one in six Trump voters would change their vote in the 2024 election if given the chance.