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Demonstrators in Baghdad, Iraq

Demonstrators in Baghdad, Iraq trample on a portrait of US President Donald Trump during a protest against the attacks by Israel and the US on Iran on March 5, 2026.

(Photo by Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images)

'Deranged and Dangerous': Trump Says 'I Guess' Americans Should Expect a Deadly Attack on US

"We have totally unserious, completely incompetent people taking us into mindless, deadly war," said Democratic US Sen. Chris Murphy.

In an interview with TIME magazine published Thursday, US President Donald Trump responded flippantly to a question on whether Americans should be concerned about the possibility of a retaliatory attack on United States soil amid his illegal and intensifying war on Iran.

"I guess," Trump said when asked about a direct Iranian attack on the US. "We expect some things. Like I said, some people will die. When you go to war, some people will die."

Democratic lawmakers quickly seized on the president's comment as further evidence of his callous lack of regard for the potentially catastrophic consequences of the war he launched.

"This is deranged and dangerous," said US Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a retired US Navy officer, wrote on social media that the president "has terrible judgment, and Americans have already died because of it."

"This is officially TRUMP’S WAR," Kelly added.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said Trump's remark underscored that "we have totally unserious, completely incompetent people taking us into mindless, deadly war."

The Trump administration has confirmed the deaths of six American soldiers so far. Earlier this week, a top Iranian security official claimed Iran's response to the massive US-Israeli bombing campaign—retaliation that has hit American military bases throughout the Middle East—has killed 500 US soldiers.

More than 1,200 Iranians have been killed by US-Israeli strikes so far, including the more than 160 people—mostly young girls—massacred in an attack on an Iranian elementary school that US investigators believe was carried out by American forces.

"Six of our fellow Americans and over a thousand Iranians lie dead. Their families have been shattered. Billions of our tax dollars have been spent. The Middle East has been plunged into war," Graham Platner, a Democratic candidate for US Senate in Maine and a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, wrote Thursday. "And for what?"

The Trump administration has refused to provide a clear objective, justification, or timeline for the war, which is costing US taxpayers roughly $1 billion per day. Politico reported earlier this week that US Central Command is "asking the Pentagon to send more military intelligence officers to its headquarters in Tampa, Florida to support operations against Iran for at least 100 days but likely through September."

"The longer this war goes on," Bruce Hoffman of the Council on Foreign Relations wrote Thursday, "the greater the incentive for Iran to apply all forms of asymmetric warfare in hopes of coercing Trump to abandon his war aims. Sleeper agents, lone actors inspired and motivated by Iran, cyberattacks on US infrastructure, and physical attacks on critical infrastructure are all possible."

In response to Trump's comments to TIME, Brian Finucane of the International Crisis Group asked, "Can someone remind me who the heads of the DHS and FBI are at the moment?"

"Surely they will stop any such attack," Finucane wrote sardonically.

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