WASHINGTON -- Newly released images reveal the aftermath of Iranian retaliatory strikes on U.S. bases across West Asia, showing severe damage to multiple structures including a hardened bunker and a base airfield, as damning new reports, deteriorating economic indicators, and collapsing election prospects converge to threaten the Trump administration’s war policy.
The images show the aftermath of an Iranian strike on a U.S. base in Kuwait. Several structures appear completely destroyed, with surrounding areas heavily damaged. 
Buildings once operational have been reduced to rubble, debris
 scattered across the site. One of the most notable details is the damage to a bunker designed to protect personnel during incoming attacks. 
The bunker appears to have sustained a direct drone strike despite being a hardened structure intended to provide shelter for troops. The base’s airfield was also completely destroyed, according to the images.
The findings are consistent with separate reporting by ABC News this week, which published images and video showing extensive damage to buildings and at least one aircraft at three U.S. bases in Kuwait, including Camp Arifjan, as well as at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. 
Some U.S. assets at the Saudi base were evacuated amid the danger. CBS News also reported widespread damage to U.S. bases earlier in the week.
ABC News reported that one image shows an E-3 Sentry surveillance aircraft, valued at about $270 million, damaged in late March at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
A senior U.S. troop described the extent of the damage as severe and said rebuilding the affected bases would be a decades-long undertaking. The troop also criticized the Pentagon for a lack of transparency over continuing drone and ballistic missile attacks on U.S. bases.
A Pentagon inspector general report released Monday indicated that “hundreds of buildings and structures” had been damaged. The watchdog estimated the cost of the war at $33 billion, while the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office put the figure at $38 billion.
The Pentagon said 18 U.S. forces had been killed and 824 wounded since February 28. The deadliest attack came on the second day of the war, when six soldiers were killed at Port Shuaiba in Kuwait.
More American forces may have died across the West Asia region during the Trump administration’s war on Iran than are reflected in the U.S. Department of War’s publicly available “casualty records,” according to a Washington Post report published Friday citing six Department of War insiders. 
The insiders said at least 22 U.S. military personnel had died, four more than the 18 fatalities listed by the department’s “Defense Casualty Analysis System.” One official put the number at 23 deaths since the war began.
The same American official referenced by the paper said three U.S. contractors based in the region had also died since the war began. The department’s public database listed 14 deaths under “Operation Epic Fury,” while four additional deaths were categorized under “Overseas Operations.”
The discrepancy has reportedly caused frustration among Department of War insiders, who questioned why the additional deaths were not reflected in the public casualty portal. Two forces who died across the region on missions described by Washington as “unrelated to the war” were also absent from the department’s public portal.
The department’s casualty accounting had already come under scrutiny in July, when the names of four forces killed in Iranian retaliatory strikes were removed from the public database before being reinstated under a different category. Department of War spokespeople attributed the change to “temporary data disruptions.”
Earlier this month, The Telegraph reported that the department had refused payout for some troopers who died during the war “because Congress had not officially declared war.”
The latest report follows other scrutiny of the department’s public accounting of U.S. military strikes. NBC News reported last month that hundreds of civilians had been killed or injured by U.S. airstrikes in Yemen in 2025, while the department had not publicly acknowledged the casualties or provided Congress with a full account.
The administration has also faced criticism over Trump’s public comments about U.S. military deaths during the war on Iran. In July, Trump published a post on his Truth Social platform that appeared to compare the number of U.S. fatalities in the war with substantially higher death tolls from previous wars.
Bereaved relatives criticized Trump in July after he appeared to attribute statements to now-deceased troopers during a transfer. 
Karie Fugett, the widow of Marine Corps Corporal Jimmy Cleveland II, criticized the remarks in an interview with HuffPost. “It’s crystal clear to me that this is a disgraceful political stunt ahead of a major election,” Fugett said. 
“The president knows his war with Iran is the most unpopular war in modern history, and he’s terrified of how that will show up at the ballot box. It’s foul.”
The war’s economic toll is mounting. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index fell to 47.8 in early September, down from 51.7 in August and 55.1 a year ago, marking a second consecutive monthly decline. 
The one-year inflation expectation jumped to 4.6% from 4.0% in August, the highest since June and significantly above the 3.4% recorded in February before the Iran conflict began. Overall consumer sentiment is down 16% from before the conflict and 13% from a year ago.
Trump’s approval rating has fallen to 35%, with 60% of Americans disapproving, according to YouGov tracking data, a net approval of -25. 
A Quinnipiac University poll in July found 60% of registered voters opposed U.S. war against Iran, the highest opposition since the school began asking. Inflation and prices were cited by 33% of respondents as the most important problem facing the country.
Decision Desk HQ forecasts Democrats to win the House 229-206, with the Senate tied 50-50. A Marquette University Law School poll in September showed Democrats leading Republicans by 13 points among likely voters, up from 6 points in July.
Trump’s approval has declined across eight issues, including border security, immigration, foreign policy, tariffs, the economy, the Iran war, gas prices, and inflation. On inflation and the cost of living, only 19% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling. On gas prices, only 20%.
Republicans held an unconventional midterm convention in Dallas this week dubbed “Trump-palooza,” seeking to place Trump at the center of the campaign despite his low approval ratings. But many Republicans in competitive races chose to stay away, preferring to campaign in their districts rather than tie themselves to an unpopular president.
“When you’re in the low 30s, that traditionally means your party is going to get shellacked in the midterms,” said Matthew Green, a politics professor at the Catholic University of America, commenting on Trump’s approval rating.