Pentagon, Trump warn more US troops likely to die in Iran operation
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon on March 2, 2026, in Arlington, Virginia. Secretary Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine held the news conference to give an update on Operation Epic Fury. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Additional American troops are being sent into the Middle East as the joint U.S.-Israeli war against Iran entered its third day Monday, with senior Pentagon officials warning that the death toll of American troops will likely rise as the conflict widens across the region.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a Pentagon news briefing Monday that the war against Iran would not be swift and that more U.S. casualties should be expected. “We expect to take additional losses, and as always, we will work to minimize U.S. losses,” he said.
The warning echoed a stark message from President Donald Trump, who on Sunday on his social media platform, offered condolences to the families of fallen service members and braced the public for a higher death toll. “Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends,” Trump said. “That’s the way it is.”
U.S. troops have been under sustained pressure from Iranian retaliation, including a strike targeting the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain and attacks on American bases in Kuwait, which serve as key logistics hubs and staging grounds.
So far, six U.S. troops have been killed in what sources tell ABC News was an Iranian strike on an American command center in Kuwait, and 18 service members have been wounded in the operation.
Trump mourned the American casualties again on Monday at a Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House.
“Today, we grieve for the four heroic American service members who have been killed in action and send our love and support to their families. In their memory, we continue this mission with ferocious, unyielding resolve to crush the threat this terrorist regime poses to the American people and a threat indeed it is.”
Meanwhile, three U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles were mistakenly shot down Sunday by Kuwait, a U.S. ally, U.S. Central Command confirmed Monday, adding that all six aircrew members ejected safely and are in stable condition. The U.S. aircraft were in “active combat” against Iranian aircraft, missiles and drones.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said an invasion of Iran with ground forces, which would demand a much greater surge of combat power beyond what’s already deployed, hasn’t been ruled out.
“We’ll go as far as we need to go to advance U.S. interests,” he told reporters.
(NEW YORK) — Zohran Mamdani, the state assemblyman and democratic socialist who catapulted to national attention during the 2025 race for New York City mayor, was sworn in at midnight on New Year’s Day 2026 in a ceremony that ushered in historic leadership for America’s largest city, as he becomes the city’s first Muslim mayor and first mayor of South Asian descent.
He took the oath office in during a private ceremony by New York Attorney General Letitia James, in the now-decommissioned original City Hall subway station, which is known for its ornate arches and tiled ceiling.
In a short speech after being sworn in by James, Mamdani said, “This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime.”
He also called the old station a “testament to the importance of public transit to the vitality, the health, the legacy of our city,” as he pivoted to announcing his pick for Department of Transportation commissioner.
Mamdani was sworn in during the midnight ceremony on a centuries-old Qur’an from the New York Public Library’s collections, the library said Wednesday.
Previous New York City mayors have also been formally sworn in at midnight, and can choose what book they use for the ceremony. Outgoing incumbent Mayor Eric Adams was sworn in using a family Bible.
At his public inauguration ceremony, set for 1 p.m. ET Thursday on the steps of New York City Hall, Mamdani will be sworn in by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Brooklyn-born independent and fellow democratic socialist who has been an ideological ally.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a fellow democratic socialist who represents a swath of the Bronx, will also deliver remarks.
“I think this is an important day for New Yorkers and even for the United States. The Mamdani inaugural on Jan. 1 is going to attract a global audience,” Mitchell Moss, a professor of urban policy at New York University, told ABC News.
Moss said that having Sanders be a part of the inauguration makes a statement “that this is a national event … so I think that [Mamdani is] identifying his ideological roots and his connection to national politics.”
Laura Tamman, a political science professor at Pace University, told ABC News that “Ocasio-Cortez was, similarly to [Mamdani], really underestimated by the Democratic establishment, and has gone on to become a really important leader in the party.”
Mamdani’s transition team has also said that Cornelius Eady, a prolific poet and a National Book Award finalist, will read a new poem at Mamdani’s inauguration, and that the inauguration will include a block party open to the public.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the longtime top New York Democrat and the current Senate Minority Leader, is attending the inauguration, a spokesperson for Schumer confirmed to ABC News on Thursday. Schumer never formally endorsed Mamdani during his mayoral campaign.
Mamdani triumphed over independent candidate former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa after campaigning largely on making the city more affordable, although he often faced questions over his relative lack of political experience and feasibility of his proposals. His campaign promises included a rent freeze for rent-stabilized apartments, free bus fares and free childcare for children aged 6 weeks to 5 years.
During the campaign, he took stances on policing and public safety more moderate than how he had spoken about policing previously, and committed during his campaign to keeping on New York City’s current police commissioner, Jessica Tisch.
Mamdani will also face the challenge of translating his campaign promises into reality, which will include working with the state government, which controls taxes, and the city council on various city proposals.
At an event on Tuesday with reporters, Mamdani focused largely on administration appointments and the road ahead.
“I will demand excellence from my team, from myself, and also, I will ensure that we create the conditions where that excellence is possible to deliver on,” he said while responding to questions about the city’s Law Department.
Moss said that “no one expects a new mayor to do everything they promise, but they have to be making progress on their promises.”
“So Mamdani has to have some wins this year, which lay the ground for bigger wins in the future. And I think the key part is that he has identified what he wants,” Moss said.
The new mayor will also have to navigate the liberal-leaning city’s relationship with the Republican-controlled federal government. In November, Mamdani met with President Donald Trump in what was widely expected to be a contentious meeting, but ended up being very cordial.
During the meeting, Trump and Mamdani said they agreed on many things, after they had criticized each other for months during the campaign.
“I think you’re going to have, hopefully, a really great mayor; and the better he does, the happier I am,” Trump said at the time.
Neera Tanden, president of the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress, said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that Mamdani “has to get the rents down. He has to make sure the city runs well.”
“But I think a lot of people look at the fact that he was able to get Donald Trump to basically compliment him,” she added.
ABC News’ Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
Representative Steny Hoyer, a Democrat from Maryland and ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, during a hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, May 15, 2025. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., the former No. 2 Democrat in the chamber who has served for decades, is set to announce his retirement from Congress, his office confirmed to ABC News.
Hoyer will formally announce his decision not to run for reelection on the House floor at 10 a.m. Thursday.
Hoyer, 86, spent two decades as Nancy Pelosi’s deputy and is set to retire as the California Democrat also prepares to leave Congress at the end of the year — amid a debate in the party about turning over leadership to a new generation.
Their relationship dates back to the 1960s when they served as congressional interns together, decades before they competed to lead Democrats.
The genteel dean of the Maryland delegation, who helped send billions of federal dollars to his state as an appropriator, was often a key negotiating partner for Republican leaders who maintained better relations with him than the hard-charging Pelosi.
Many Democrats are now turning to see if 85-year-old Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the longtime No. 3 Democrat on the team, will follow through on plans to run for reelection next year.
The Supreme Court of the United States SCOTUS in Washington D.C. (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Three years after affirming a constitutional right of Americans to carry a gun for self-defense, the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday will consider whether states can limit the carry of firearms on private property open to the public without first receiving the property owner’s consent.
The case involves a Hawaiian law and similar measures in four other states –- California, Maryland, New York and New Jersey –- where lawmakers set a strict “default rule” prohibiting the possession of handguns in privately-owned places where other members of the public might congregate, unless the owner affirmatively gives permission.
The laws govern locations such as stores, shopping malls, bars, restaurants, theaters, arenas, farms, and private beaches. It does not involve public property, which is subject to different rules.
“This law is extremely restrictive. It bans public carry in 96.4% of the publicly available land in the County of Maui,” said Alan Beck, an attorney for three Maui residents and members of the Hawaii Firearms Coalition who are challenging the law.
“They’d like to carry dropping off money at the ATM late at night or just going to have lunch at a restaurant,” Beck said. “They are unable to carry in any private business that is open to the public that is unwilling to put up a sign saying ‘guns allowed.'”
While property owners have the inherent right to exclude guns from their premises, Beck says the onus should be on them to make their wishes clear, otherwise expect that members of the public can freely exercise their Second Amendment rights as a matter of standard practice.
Unlike Hawaii, 45 states permit licensed handgun owners to presume they can legally carry their weapons onto private property open to the public, unless the owner explicitly bans guns by issuing verbal instructions or posting a sign.
“The express purpose of this law is to make it so that less people exercise their constitutional rights,” Beck said.
Hawaii officials argue in court documents that never in the nation’s history has there been a “right to armed entry onto private property without consent” and that its law is meant to protect a property-owner’s right to exclude guns without having to take extra steps.
“The basic principle is that private property owners are empowered to set the rules for their property, and the state can make it easier for private property owners to do so,” said Douglas Letter, chief legal officer at Brady, a gun safety group.
“Hawaii’s law is obviously eminently reasonable,” Letter added. “Visitors simply must get a private property owner’s permission to bring a firearm onto that property.”
The Supreme Court will evaluate the Hawaii law using a test laid out in a landmark 2022 decision in which Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the conservative majority, said only gun regulations consistent with “the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation” can stand.
Hawaii points to an 1865 Louisiana law and 1771 New Jersey law as imposing nearly identical property restrictions as its current measure. The plaintiffs say they are “outlier” examples and not the historic norm. The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld Hawaii’s law, holding that “a national tradition likely exists of prohibiting the carrying of firearms on private property without the owner’s oral or written consent.”
Beck and co-counsel Kevin O’Grady said they expect the justices will likely reverse that ruling in their favor. “Just because Hawaii is giving lip service to the Second Amendment when they’re doing the kind of things they’re doing — and doing these mental gymnastics to try to justify this law,” O’Grady said, “it will not be tolerated by the U.S. Supreme Court.”
A decision in the case is expected by the end of June.
