As the Iran War Escalates, Is the U.S. Hiding Its Toll?

About this episode

<p>The war in Iran has recently escalated in dangerous new ways, drawing in Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, as the Trump administration reeled from the Iranian killing of U.S. service members in Jordan.</p> <p>Eric Schmitt, a national security correspondent for The New York Times, discusses the latest attacks, and how they’ve coincided with a decision by the U.S. military to disclose less about the war.<br><br> Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/eric-schmitt" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Eric Schmitt</strong></a>, a national security correspondent for The New York Times based in Washington.</p> <p>Background reading: </p> <ul> <li>The Pentagon has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/us/iran-war-us-soldiers-killed-jordan-identified.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">identified two U.S. soldiers</a> who were killed in an Iranian attack in Jordan.</li> <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/us/politics/troops-injured-jordan-iran-war.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Pentagon withheld dozens of U.S. military injuries</a> in the war in Iran.</li> <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/07/20/world/iran-war-strikes-trump-hormuz" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Read live updates</a> on the war.</li> </ul> <p>Photo: Salwan Georges for The New York Times</p> <p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>nytimes.com/thedaily</strong></a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. </p> <p><p>Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.</p></p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>