US army soldiers missing for two days in Lithuania found dead after vanishing during NATO war training drill - what has Trump said?

The four servicemen, who have not been identified by authorities, were with the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division. Early reports indicate that the soldiers may have been traveling in an M88 recovery vehicle, one of the largest armoured vehicles used by the US military, which may have fallen into a body of water.

The soldiers had been reported missing at around 4:45pm Tuesday following a training exercise near Pabrade, Lithuania, sparking a widespread search conducted by the US Army and Lithuanian authorities. The soldiers were reportedly carrying out a tactical training routine at the General Silvestras Žukauskas training ground in Pabradė, which is less than six miles from the border with Belarus.

The Lithuanian Armed Forces said on Wednesday that they had identified a 'possible location' of the missing soldiers and their vehicle. The military said in a statement that 'a search and rescue operation is underway, led by the Lithuanian Armed Forces, with additional capabilities from the Fire Protection and Rescue Department and other institutions.'

Officials have not offered any details regarding how the soldiers or their vehicle went missing nor the manner of their reported deaths. Asked on Wednesday evening by reporters if he had been briefed about the missing soldiers, President Donald Trump said, “No, I haven’t.”

His response prompted astonishment on social media and among critics, with some comparing it to the president’s apparent total lack of knowledge of the recent so-called Signalgate security breach in which a journalist was inadvertently given access to a group chat on messaging app Signal about details of a U.S. bombing attack in Yemen earlier this month. “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 X.