A white baseball cap with gold lettering, sold for £43 ($55) on the president's own merchandise website, has become the most polarising image to emerge from Saturday'sdignified transferof six US Army Reserve soldiers killed inOperation Epic Fury, America's ongoing war in Iran.
The hat in question bore 'USA' in gold on the front, '45-47' on one side, and the American flag on the other. It is a commercially available item. No other civilian attendee wore a hat, and based onpublicly available images, no previous US president has worn a baseball cap during a dignified transfer ceremony.
The conflict that killed these men and women began at 2:30 a.m. EST on Feb. 28, 2026, when Trump released aneight-minute video statement on Truth Socialannouncing that the United States had commenced 'major combat operations' in Iran alongside Israel, in what the Pentagon designatedOperation Epic Fury.
The opening strikes killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with dozens of senior officials and military commanders. Iran retaliated across the region, launching missiles and drones at US military bases in Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and the UAE.
One of those retaliatory strikes hit the Port of Shuaiba in Kuwait on March 1, 2026. The six soldiers killed there wereidentified by the Pentagonas Maj. Jeffrey R. O'Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa; Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert M. Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, California; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; and Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa. Four of the six had served for roughly two decades.
⛔️The six US soldiers (Khork, Tietjens, Amor, Coady, O’Brien, Marzan) were killed March 1-2 by an Iranian drone strike on a US base in Kuwait‼️pic.twitter.com/MAreaXJOp1
Sgt. Amor was days from returning home, her husband Joey told the Associated Press. Sgt. Tietjens, who would have turned 43 the following Tuesday, was remembered by colleagues as a mentor. Sgt. Coady, at 20 the youngest of the group, had reportedly been considering extending his deployment by a further nine months. Asked on Saturday whether he expected to attend more of these ceremonies, Trump told reporters aboardAir Force One, 'I'm sure. I hate to ... but it's a part of war.'
The dignified transfer, a ritual in which the remains of service members killed overseas are carried off a military transport aircraft and handed to a waiting vehicle, is widely regarded as the most solemn public duty of any commander in chief. Protocol for civilian attendees calls for hats and caps to beremoved during the ceremony, held at the left shoulder with the right hand over the heart, while military personnel in uniform salute. Trump, wearing a suit, saluted when required but kept his hat on throughout.
Footage of Trump arriving at Dover from a Latin American summit in Miami showed him disembarking Air Force One with the hat already in his hand. He put it on before walking out to the tarmac. No other civilian in attendance, including Melania Trump, Vice President Vance, or White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, wore headwear of any kind.
The reaction online was swift and, across partisan lines, unusually pointed. California Governor Gavin Newsom posted above a White House-shared video: 'Take your hat off, you disgusting little man.'
Source: International Business Times UK
