A fundraising email distributed Thursday by a political action committee linked to President Donald Trump included a photo of a March 7 dignified transfer of a U.S. soldier killed by an Iranian drone strike in Kuwait.
The email, which was signed “President Donald J. Trump“ and paid for by Never Surrender Inc., promises to make donors part of a ”National Security Briefing Membership.” It was first pointed out on X by Patriot Takes.
The embedded photo of the dignified transfer, taken by White House photographer Daniel Torok, is included in the email and bracketed by icons featuring the text, “CLAIM YOUR SPOT,” which can be clicked on to donate.
In the photo, Trump, wearing a white USA baseball hat, salutes as a flag-draped casket of a fallen soldier is transferred by an Army carry team. The casket included the remains of one of six soldiers returned to U.S. soil that day, the first American casualties of Operation Epic Fury.
Less than one week later, the photo was used in the fundraising email.
“I’m the strong commander who stares down tyrants, obliterates terrorists, and never backs down,” Trump states in the email. “This is for patriots ready to stand with that kind of unbreakable strength. Not for the weak or the wavering.”
The email promises donors a series of private national security briefings and updates on “threats facing America … border invasions, foreign adversaries, deep state sabotage, and every danger the fake news hides.”
“You’ll get the inside scoop DIRECT from me, President Trump,” the email continues, “the leader who’s rebuilt the greatest military in history, and put America First like no one else.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The six service members transferred on March 7 were killed when an Iranian drone evaded American air defenses and struck a makeshift operations center in Port Shuabia, Kuwait. The attack was among the opening salvos of the war between a U.S.-Israel alliance and the Islamic Republic.
The slain soldiers who were killed in the strike were identified as Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa; Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa; and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Spotsylvania, Virginia.
A total of 13 U.S. service members have been killed during combat actions and roughly 140 more wounded — eight severely — across the opening two weeks of Operation Epic Fury.
Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky, died from wounds sustained during a March 1 enemy attack at Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia.
Six U.S. airmen were killed on Thursday when a U.S. Air Force KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed during ongoing combat operations.
Another service member, an Army National Guard officer who also served as a New York City policeman, died on March 6 following a non-combat incident.
J.D. Simkins is Editor-in-Chief of Military Times and Defense News, and a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War.