Trump says ‘no damage’ to US war planes from Iran attack

President Trump on Thursday denied reports that Iranian forces damaged U.S. war planes during a raid on an air base in Jordan.

“Nope,” the president said when NewsNation’s Robert Sherman asked whether there is “any truth” to the reports.

“None whatsoever. No damage. No nothing,” Trump told Sherman over the phone.

CBS News, citing people with direct knowledge of the matter, reported Thursday that Iranian strikes damaged multiple American military aircraft overnight Tuesday into Wednesday.

The strikes occurred during an attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, which the Royal Jordanian Air Force operates.

One A-10 Thunderbolt lost a wing in the attack, while roughly eight F-15s sustained light damage and returned to service, CBS News reported.

Iranian forces launched ballistic missiles toward the base in response to the U.S. military destroying five Iranian oil tankers Tuesday.

The Iran conflict, in its seven month, has marched on with no sign of a deal to end hostilities. Trump told Sherman the war will “get settled right after” the U.S. midterm elections in November.

“They can’t hold out any longer,” the president told reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday, referring to Iran. “They’re desperate to try and affect the election so that we can get a nice, weak group of people in there, and leave them alone and let them have their nuclear weapon.”

Trump also said he is “not looking for” negotiations with Iranian officials to resume, adding of the Islamic Republic, “We have very little country left.”

The president remarked, “Yes, a negotiation could possibly happen, but it’s not something we’re looking at.”

The war has depleted the Pentagon’s stockpiles of critical munitions . As of July 27, the U.S. military had used up roughly two-thirds of its stockpile of Patriot missile interceptors and more than half of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense systems, according to analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.