Trump criticized for wearing hat while honoring soldiers killed in Kuwait drone strike

President Donald Trump is facing criticism after attending the March 7 dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware honoring six U.S. service members killed in a drone attack in Kuwait, including Filipino American Army Reserve officer Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan.

Footage from the ceremony shows Trump wearing a white baseball cap marked “USA” as flag-draped transfer cases were carried from a military aircraft.

Criticism over ceremony conduct: Images from the ceremony prompted criticism from commentators who said civilians typically remove hats during military honors ceremonies. On the ABC talk show “The View,” co-host Whoopi Goldberg criticized the moment, saying, “Take your damn hat off! I didn’t understand why nobody pulled his coattail and said, ‘Sir.’ Just out of respect!”

Media correction and White House response: Fox News Media later apologized after the network aired footage from a different dignified transfer that did not show Trump wearing a hat. “We inadvertently aired video from an older dignified transfer instead of the ceremony that took place yesterday,” correspondent Griff Jenkins said on “Fox & Friends Weekend.” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung defended the president in a statement, saying critics were “disgustingly playing partisan politics and they need their heads checked.”

Filipino American among six killed: The ceremony marked the return of the service members after an Iranian drone attack at Kuwait’s Shuaiba port killed six members of the U.S. Army Reserve’s 103rd Sustainment Command just hours after the war began. Marzan, 54, lived in Sacramento, California and served as a chief warrant officer in the Army Reserve. The Pentagon identified the other soldiers killed in the attack as Maj. Jeffrey R. O’Brien, Capt. Cody A. Khork, Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens and Sgt. Declan J. Coady. All six were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command and were deployed to Kuwait in support of U.S. military operations in the region when the drone strike occurred.