Donald Trump sparked anger online after he claimed he knew nothing about four U.S. soldiers who are missing in Lithuania, despite search operations having been underway for hours.
The president was asked Wednesday if he had been briefed about the men, who disappeared during a training exercise outside Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, and were mistakenly initially declared dead.
“No, I haven't,” Trump replied simply.
His response prompted astonishment on social media and among critics, with some comparing it to the president’s apparent total lack of knowledge of the recent so-called Signalgate security breach in which a journalist was inadvertently given access to a group chat on messaging app Signal about details of a U.S. bombing attack in Yemen earlier this month. .
“So Trump didn't know about the soldiers ... and they didn't tell him about the Signal chat ... who's really running the White House?” wrote The Lincoln Project on X.
Another X user added: “How has SecDef Hegseth not briefed POTUS on the missing U.S. soldiers in Lithuania? This has been in the public domain for 8+ hours.”
“His lack of knowledge or care about this situation is another major scandal,” wrote a critic, while another complained: “This dude has zero clue what’s happening in his administration.”
So Trump didn't know about the soldiers... and they didn't tell him about the Signal chat... who's really running the White House? https://t.co/AdLwW7fiM0
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) March 27, 2025
The four soldiers were participating in scheduled tactical training when they went missing, according to a statement released by the U.S. Army Europe and Africa public affairs office in Wiesbaden, Germany.
On Wednesday NATO apologized after Secretary General Mark Rutte initially said the men were dead, and later corrected that searches were in fact still ongoing.
"Whilst I was speaking the news came out about four American soldiers who were killed in an incident in Lithuania. This is still early news so we do not know the details. This is really terrible news and our thoughts are with the families and loved ones,” he clarified.
He fired thousands of veterans across the government. His team carelessly shares information that puts our pilots at risk. He doesn’t care to know about missing American soldiers.
— Rep. Gerry Connolly (@GerryConnolly) March 27, 2025
What more proof do we need that this man doesn’t give a damn about the heroes who protect us? https://t.co/E3pjRX4Pvd
Democratic Representative Gerry Connolly, of Virginia, also expressed his disgust at the president’s response on X.
“He fired thousands of veterans across the government. His team carelessly shares information that puts our pilots at risk,” Connolly wrote, referring to Signalgate. “He doesn’t care to know about missing American soldiers. What more proof do we need that this man doesn’t give a damn about the heroes who protect us?”
The Independent has requested comment from the White House on whether the president has yet been briefed on the situation.
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