Trump plays down brain injuries to soldiers from Iran attack as a “headache.”

Former President Donald Trump played down injuries to troops who suffered traumatic brain injuries after rocket attacks on a U.S. base at a campaign rally in Wisconsin at the end of his term, describing them as “headaches.”

Pentagon officials said more than 100 U.S. soldiers were diagnosed with brain injuries after a rocket attack on the Ain al-Asad base in Iraq in January 2020 a few days earlier.

Although the missiles did not directly hit U.S. forces, the bombardment of the attacks caused dizziness, sensitivity to light, nausea and other traumatic brain injury symptoms in dozens of soldiers stationed there, Defense Department officials said. In some cases, the effects lasted for weeks or months and several soldiers had to be evacuated to Germany for medical treatment.

When Trump was asked by a reporter on Tuesday whether he would have preferred to take tougher action against Iran given the severity of the injuries sustained in that attack, he downplayed the outcome.

“What does ‘injured’ mean?” he said. “You mean because they had a headache? Because the bombs never hit the fortress…”

“None of these very precise missiles hit our fort. They hit everyone outside. No one was hurt except that the noise was loud. Some people said it hurt and I accept that.”

Nearly 80 soldiers received Purple Hearts for injuries related to the attack, most related to traumatic brain injuries. An inspector general report released in November 2021 suggested that the number of injuries may have been even higher because military officials did not properly document all of troops’ health problems.

Trump’s comments drew immediate criticism from Democratic Party officials and led to condemnation from Gov. Tim Walz during Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate.

Trump also claimed at the event that “no one has ever been tougher” on Iran than him. Walz, who served in the Army National Guard for 24 years, disputed this at the debate in New York a few hours later.

“Iran is closer to a nuclear weapon than before because of Donald Trump’s capricious leadership,” Walz said. “And when Iranian missiles actually struck near U.S. troops and they suffered traumatic brain injuries. Donald Trump dismissed it as a ‘headache.’

Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s vice president and a Marine Corps veteran, did not directly address the military violations in his comments but blamed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris – the Democratic presidential nominee – for weak policies on Iranian aggression responsible.

Trump has previously downplayed the severity of Iran’s missile attack on US forces. In the days after the attack, while he was still president, Trump described the injuries as “not very serious” and described the damage caused as “minimal.”