Trump says the rescue mission to retrieve the second US airman, who was still trapped in Iran days after the first was rescued, involved 155 aircraft, including four bombers, 64 fighters, 48 refuelling tankers, 13 rescue aircraft, and more, APA reports citing BBC.
"We were bringing them all over, and a lot of it was subterfuge. We wanted to have them think he was in a different location, because they had a vast military force out there - thousands of people were looking," Trump says.
The "heroic" officer evaded capture on the ground in Iran for almost 48 hours, Trump says.
US forces had to leave planes behind in Iran, but rather than let Iran get hold of the equipment on those aircraft, the US military "blew them up to smithereens", Trump says of the planes.
"I never forget the extraordinary risk taken by the warriors that we send into battle," he adds.
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