President Donald Trump announced that the military flight team that launched the strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities will be honored at the White House on Independence Day. (Reuters and Maxar Technologies via AP)
"These people did one of the greatest military hits and maneuvers in the history of our country, and I want them to be appreciated for it," the president went on. "So, they're coming. They're coming to the White House tomorrow night."
"They're going to be in Washington tomorrow at the White House, and we're going to be celebrating."
Trump said the White House will host not only the pilots, but the entire flight crew, including "the people that flew the other planes" and "the mechanics that had these planes going for 37 hours without a stop."
"China, Russia, they were all watching. Everybody was watching," he said. "We have the greatest equipment anywhere in the world. We have the greatest people anywhere in the world, and we have the strongest military anywhere in the world."
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President Donald Trump speaks at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday, July 3, 2025. Trump intends to lay out his plans to celebrate the nation's 250th anniversary, in addition to emphasizing his bid to codify tax, immigration and welfare reforms in Congress. (Photographer: Scott Morgan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Trump claimed that Iran went so far as to ask what time of day would be acceptable for their retaliatory strike.
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"They said, ‘Sir, is 1:00 okay?’ I said it was fine, [they said], ‘We could make it later.’ And we had nobody but four gunners," he said. "So, all of a sudden, they said, ‘We're ready.’ And they were a little nervous about doing it. I want to tell, you can you imagine, they were nice enough – this is Iran – to call me and tell me that they would like to shoot me at 14 times, so they want to shoot us. And I said, go ahead. And they shot 14 high grade, very fast missiles every single one of them was shot down routinely by these four unbelievable gunmen. And they did their job. And that was the end of that."
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/president-trump-honor-iran-strike-flight-team-white-house