Trump is unaware of the missing US soldiers in the Lithuania scandal
The fate and circumstances surrounding the disappearance of four American soldiers in Lithuania remain unknown. Their bodies have not been found, and thus their deaths have not been confirmed. Donald Trump was questioned about the issue and was unaware of it.
During a press conference, Donald Trump was asked whether he had been informed about the soldiers who disappeared during military exercises near the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, and who were initially mistakenly presumed dead.
Trump stirred controversy with lack of awareness of events in Lithuania
"No, I haven't," Trump immediately responded.
His response shocked social media and critics, some of whom compared it to the president's ignorance of Signalgate.
On Monday, "The Atlantic" published an article in which editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg describes how he accidentally found himself in a discussion group on the Signal app, where plans for an attack on Yemen were being discussed. Participants in the conversation included Vice President J.D. Vance, Trump's national security adviser Mike Waltz, and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth.
"Absolutely shocking statement"
"So Trump didn't know about the soldiers... and they didn't tell him about the Signal chat... who's really running the White House?" wrote The Lincoln Project on platform X.
Another user, cited by The Independent, questioned how President Hegseth remained uninformed about the missing U.S. soldiers in Lithuania, despite the issue being publicly known for more than eight hours.
One critic described his apparent ignorance or indifference to the situation as another significant scandal. At the same time, another remarked that he seemed utterly unaware of what was happening within his administration.
"This is an absolutely shocking statement," commented journalist Aaron Rupar.
"Four service members lose their lives in Lithuania and Donald Trump is completely oblivious. Let a random building in Colorado hang a picture of him he doesn’t like and he rants about it online all day. But four dead Americans? No idea," wrote Shea Jordan Smith.
Democratic Congressman Gerry Connolly from Virginia also expressed his outrage at the president's reaction on platform X.
He criticized the dismissal of thousands of veterans from government institutions and accused the leader’s team of carelessly revealing information that could put pilots at risk. He also claimed there was a lack of concern for missing American soldiers, questioning what more evidence was needed to show the leader's disregard for those who serve and protect the country.
Operation ongoing overnight
The bodies of the four US soldiers have not been found, and their deaths have not been confirmed, reported Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Szakaliene. On Thursday, she, along with Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas, visited the training ground in Pabradė near the Belarusian border, where the American soldiers went missing.
Szakaliene stated that rescue work had been ongoing throughout the night in the swampy terrain where the armored vehicle Hercules, which the soldiers were riding, was located. Efforts were focused on pumping out water and reinforcing the ground to allow heavy machinery access to the site without damaging a nearby gas pipeline.
Szakaliene, speaking to the public broadcaster RLT, noted that it's uncertain whether the soldiers are actually inside the vehicle, and that other possibilities are being explored—offering some hope that the missing individuals could still be rescued.
