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DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- President Donald Trump on Wednesday honored the lives of four U.S. service members who were killed in the Middle East and returned to their families at an air force base in Delaware.
The president saluted as four transfer cases carrying the service members' remains were escorted off an airplane during the dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base. The ritual is one of the most somber duties of a commander in chief. It was the third that Trump has attended since he launched the war in Iran in February.
Speaking at an event in Georgia hours later, Trump described the ritual as "the toughest thing I do."
"I've been there many times before," he said of Dover. "This was, in particular, something very sad."
Earlier in the day, Trump said his message to families was simple: "We love you. We love your child," Trump told reporters.
Trump was accompanied at the dignified transfer by administration officials including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Also present were Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.
During the ritual, transfer cases draped with the American flag and holding the remains of the fallen soldiers are carried from the military aircraft that transported them to awaiting vehicles to take them to the mortuary facility at the base. There, the service members are prepared for their final resting place.