Yes. On September 4, 2026, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick apologized after telling CNBC the day before that “there haven’t been American deaths” in the Iran war and framing the strategy as mainly an “economic choke-out.”
In a post on X, Lutnick said he misspoke, acknowledged that 18 U.S. service members have died, apologized to their families, and said he had been thinking about the earlier Venezuela military operation, where he said no service members died. President Trump similarly wrote that Lutnick “had Venezuela on his mind.”
To date, the U.S. has reported 18 military personnel killed and more than 750 wounded in the conflict.