As the U.S. military searched Saturday for the missing crew member of an American F15-E fighter jet downed over Iran, critics slammed President Donald Trump for not speaking more forcefully about finding the airman and for overstating his war’s accomplishments.
Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee who appeared on MS NOW’s “The Weekend” Saturday, decried Trump’s speech to the nation earlier this week in which she said he “bloviated and bragged about the destruction of Iran’s ability to compete in this war,” which she said “seemed like he was just going to incite such an attack on our military.”
“So I pray for the safe return of the other pilot of the F-15, and I pray for a swift end to this war,” Dean said.
With the U.S. military in a race against time to locate the missing American aviator, the president has said very little about the search.
“Number one, we haven’t obliterated Iran’s capability,” Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, appearing on the same MS NOW show, said, referring to Trump’s claim on March 16 that the U.S. had “literally obliterated” Iranian threats. “That’s, that’s ridiculous to say.”
He said the Trump administration should be “pulling out all stops” to find the missing airman. Instead, Hertling noted, Trump has tepidly said “he hopes we’re going to find the other crew member and he’s not going to comment on what we’re going to do if we don’t.”
“You move mountains to try and find that individual, get them back to safety,” he said.
Shortly after the military plane went down Friday, Trump touted the idea of seizing Iranian oil that flows through the Strait of Hormuz. But he had yet to publicly condemn the attack. And on Saturday, the president remained mum on the missing service member, saying in a Truth Social post early reminding Iran of his imposed deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz: “Time is running out – 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them. Glory be to GOD!”
Later Saturday afternoon, Trump posted a one-minute video allegedly of a “massive strike in Tehran,” which he said killed “many of Iran’s Military Leaders.” The timing of the strike and the source of the video were not known. MS NOW reached out to the White House for clarification and additional information about the president’s post.
Iran’s successful targeting of the U.S. aircraft suggests a different wartime reality than the one Trump conveyed in his address to the nation on Wednesday: Iran still has the military capacity to strike U.S. service members and target critical infrastructure deep within its American-allied Gulf Arab neighbors.
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Saturday on MS NOW’s “Velshi” that Trump’s approach to the war overall is “problematic.”








