Fury explodes at Pete Hegseth over 'grotesque insult' to US troops killed in Iran war as Pentagon is accused of cover-up

By PHILLIP NIETO, US POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 14:10, 24 July 2026 | Updated: 14:25, 24 July 2026 Pete Hegseth is under fire after the Pentagon removed four soldiers killed last weekend from its Iran war death toll because they died after Donald Trump's April ceasefire. The Pentagon's official death tally stood at 18 American service members killed as of Wednesday. By Thursday, it was 14. A Pentagon official said the change was caused by 'temporary data disruptions' on the casualty website and would be quickly fixed, according to the Washington Post.  Lawmakers reacted with fury on social media, with Democratic Senator Chris Murphy branding the Pentagon's apparent attempt to hide the true number of US war dead an 'abomination.' 'Scrubbing the names of four American heroes killed in Jordan and Iraq—simply because their deaths came after Trump’s so-called “cease-fire”—is a grotesque insult to their sacrifice and a deliberate attempt to whitewash the true cost of this endless war,' wrote one X user in response to the scandal. Hegseth and Trump have repeatedly claimed throughout the conflict that Iran's military capabilities have been destroyed and that US forces enjoy total control of the skies and seas. But Iran has spent recent weeks launching waves of ballistic missiles and suicide drones, including the strikes on Jordan's Muwaffaq Salti Air Base that killed three soldiers last weekend. Nearly 100 US troops have been wounded since the fighting resumed earlier this month. Hegseth is under fire after the Pentagon struck four soldiers killed last weekend from its Iran war death toll because they died after Donald Trump's April ceasefire. Trump and Hegseth honoring the remains of Army Staff Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton Iran has spent recent weeks launching waves of ballistic missiles and suicide drones at US bases in the Middle East More than 400 US troops have been wounded in the Iran war according to the Pentagon's own casualty system, and officials have admitted the true figure is higher. The Defense Department is required by law to report exact troop deaths but not injuries. Trump officials have previously argued that revealing the toll of successful Iranian strikes on US bases would hand Tehran valuable intelligence and compromise operational security.  'No matter how many strikes we launch, it cannot erase the fact the Iran has figured out how to hide its missiles and drones, and quickly recover from the damage we do,' Senator Murphy wrote on X. 'After 145 days of war, the majority of Iran’s missile sites on the Strait are operational. A forever war.' Even some Republican lawmakers have begun to break away from Trump's military campaign against the regime, airing their doubts both privately and in public. Hegseth was grilled by Democrats and Republicans alike at a contentious Senate hearing on Tuesday as he pleaded for billions in emergency Pentagon funding. The war has cost the Pentagon $37.5 billion in the last few months. One GOP senator told Hegseth that Congress and the public need 'straighter answers' from the military.