President Donald Trump will travel to Dover Air Force Base on Tuesday evening to attend the dignified transfer of American service members killed during a deadly weekend of Iranian attacks, the White House announced Monday.
“President Trump will attend the dignified transfer of our fallen heroes tomorrow evening at Dover Air Force Base,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X. “The President and the entire White House are praying for their families.”
The solemn ceremony will bring Trump to Dover as the remains of fallen American troops are returned to the United States. During a dignified transfer, flag-draped transfer cases are carried from a military aircraft to vehicles that transport the remains to the base’s mortuary facility.
The White House announcement came hours after the Department of War identified two Army soldiers killed following Iran’s July 17 attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan.
The soldiers were 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas.
Gonzales was killed in action on July 17. Feehan was killed in action the following day as a result of the same enemy attack, according to the Pentagon.
Both soldiers were deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, the American-led mission against the Islamic State.
Feehan was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, under the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Gonzales served with the 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, part of the 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade and 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command in Ansbach, Germany.
“U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command mourns the loss of 1st Lt. Tyler Feehan, whose service and sacrifice will never be forgotten,” Lt. Gen. John L. Rafferty said in an Army statement.
“Losing him to enemy fire will inspire our Soldiers and strengthen their resolve to continue the mission,” Rafferty added.
The Army said Feehan will be posthumously promoted to captain and awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
U.S. Central Command said Feehan and Gonzales were killed as American and partner forces defended the Jordanian base against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks. Four other American service members were medically evacuated but have since been discharged.
Another service member was initially listed as missing following the assault. CENTCOM later announced that unidentified remains had been recovered at the site and were undergoing examination.
Separately, a third American service member was killed in northern Iraq on July 18 during the controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone. A second service member suffered minor injuries.
Leavitt announced Trump’s visit while sharing a warning the president delivered to Tehran earlier Monday.
“Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The president said the order had already been communicated to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine and other American military leaders.
Trump had previously told reporters that the latest American strikes against Iran were launched in honor of the fallen troops.
“We hit them very hard again tonight, and we did that in honor of the probably three, as opposed to two, great patriots,” Trump said Sunday after arriving at Joint Base Andrews.
CENTCOM said Saturday’s retaliatory operation struck Iranian coastal surveillance and air defense facilities, maritime capabilities, and missile and drone storage sites. American forces also targeted Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps units accused of launching the deadly attack against the Jordanian base.
The military followed that operation with its ninth consecutive evening of strikes, hitting Iranian command centers, communications networks, air defenses and missile and drone launch sites.
Trump’s appearance Tuesday will mark another solemn visit to Dover during the conflict. The president and first lady Melania Trump attended the dignified transfer of six American soldiers killed in an Iranian drone attack in Kuwait in March.
