Trump will go to Delaware for the dignified transfer of the 2 National Guard members killed in Syria

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is traveling to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday for a dignified transfer for the two Iowa National Guard members killed in an attack in the Syrian desert that is testing the rapprochement between Washington and Damascus.

The two guardsmen killed in the attack on Saturday were Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, according to the U.S. Army. Both were members of the 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment. A U.S. civilian working as an interpreter, identified Tuesday as Ayad Mansoor Sakat of Macomb, Michigan, was also killed.

The ritual at Dover Air Force Base honors U.S. service members killed in action and is one of the most solemn duties undertaken by the commander in chief.

During the process, transfer cases draped with the American flag holding the remains of fallen soldiers are carried from the military aircraft that carried them to Dover to an awaiting vehicle to transport them to the mortuary facility at the base. There, the fallen service members are prepared for their final resting place.

Trump, a Republican, said during his first term that witnessing the dignified transfer of service members’ remains is “the toughest thing I have to do” as president.

The Iowa National Guard is remembering the two men as heroes. Howard’s stepfather, Jeffrey Bunn, said Howard “loved what he was doing and would be the first in and last out,” noting that he had wanted to be a soldier since he was a young boy.

In a post on the Meskwaki Nation Police Department’s Facebook page, Bunn — who is chief of the Tama, Iowa, department — called Howard a loving husband and an “amazing man of faith” and said Howard’s brother, a staff sergeant in the Iowa National Guard, would escort “Nate” back to Iowa.

Torres-Tovar was remembered as a “very positive” person who was family oriented and someone who always put others first, according to fellow guardsmen who were deployed with Torres-Tovar and issued a statement to the local TV broadcast station WOI.

“They were dedicated professionals and cherished members of our Guard family who represented the best of Iowa,” said Maj. Gen. Stephen Osborn, adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard.

On Saturday, Trump told reporters that he was mourning the deaths and vowed retaliation.

Trump said Monday that he remained confident in the leadership of interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the onetime leader of an Islamic insurgent group who led the ouster of former President Bashar Assad, whose family had an iron grip on Syrian rule for decades.

The U.S. president welcomed al-Sharaa to Washington last month for a historic visit to the White House and formally welcomed Syria as a member of the U.S.-led coalition to fight the Islamic State group. Hundreds of U.S. troops are deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting IS.

“This had nothing to do with him,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday. “This had to do with ISIS.”

Three other members of the Iowa National Guard were injured in the attack. As of Monday, two were in stable condition and the other in good condition. The Pentagon has not identified them.

Trump traveled to Dover several times during his first term to honor the fallen, including for a U.S. Navy SEAL killed during a raid in Yemen, for two Army officers whose helicopter crashed in Afghanistan and for two Army soldiers killed in Afghanistan when a person dressed in an Afghan army uniform opened fire.

President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs from the South Lawn of the White House, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Washington, en route to Baltimore to attend the Army-Navy football game. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

President Donald Trump speaks during a Mexican Border Defense Medal presentation in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

This undated photo released by the Iowa National Guard shows Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar. (Iowa National Guard via AP)

This undated photo released by the Iowa National Guard shows Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard. (Iowa National Guard via AP)

This undated combo photo created with images released by the Iowa National Guard shows Sgts. William Nathaniel Howard, left, and Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar. (Iowa National Guard via AP)

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Prosecutors worked Tuesday to paint a Milwaukee judge accused of helping an immigrant evade arrest as rudely approaching federal officers and making it more dangerous for them to do their jobs.

And a fellow judge testified that she was “shocked” at what Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan had done.

The second day of Dugan’s trial focused largely on her interactions with officers and others in the courthouse on April 18.

Dugan is on trial on charges of obstruction and concealment for her role in the incident.

Prosecutors say that after she learned federal authorities were waiting outside her courtroom to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, she cleared a path for his escape by directing the agents to the chief judge's office and leading Flores-Ruiz out of her courtroom through a private door.

The highly unusual charges against a sitting judge are an extraordinary consequence of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Dugan's supporters say Trump is looking to make an example of her to blunt judicial opposition to immigration arrests.

FBI agent Phillip Jackling testified on Tuesday that he was concerned that his team was divided when Dugan directed agents to speak with the chief judge.

He said Dugan appeared angry when she approached him in the hallway outside her courtroom. Another member of the arrest team, Customs and Border Protection Supervisory Officer Joseph Zuraw, said Dugan jerked her thumb over her shoulder and told him to “get out" before directing him to the chief judge's chambers.

Five of the arrest team's six members were in the chief judge's chambers or a hallway leading to the chambers when Flores-Ruiz left the courtroom, the agents testified. Zuraw said he remembered thinking: “This is a bad spot we’re in right now. It’s a bad spot because we don’t’ have a decent number of officers to safely make an arrest.”

The team followed him outside the courthouse and had to chase him down through traffic when they could have safely arrested him in the building, they testified.

Dugan’s defense attorneys have suggested that agents could have arrested Flores-Ruiz at any point in the hallway and Dugan shouldn't be blamed for their decision to wait until he was outside.

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Kristela Cervera testified that she was irritated and “shocked” with Dugan's behavior.

“Judges shouldn’t help defendants evade arrest,” Cervera testified on Tuesday.

She also testified that she was irritated that Dugan used her as backup during the incident, making her come out of the hallway while still wearing her robe.

Dugan proceeded to angrily confront two officers waiting to arrest Flores-Ruiz, telling them repeatedly that they needed a judicial warrant before sending them to the chief judge’s chambers, Cervera testified. Cervera escorted them to the chambers and later returned to her courtroom.

Cervera testified that Dugan approached her three days later and said she was “in the doghouse” with the chief judge, saying something to the effect that the chief was upset with her because she had “tried to help that guy.”

Prosecutors are trying to convince the jury in federal court that Dugan knew the stakes of her actions when she directed an immigrant to a private door while federal agents were in the courthouse to arrest the man.

“I’ll get the heat,” Dugan told her court reporter as they discussed who would assist Flores-Ruiz, according to courtroom audio played for the jury on Monday.

Defense attorney Steven Biskupic said in opening statements that the judge had no intention of obstructing agents. He said that Dugan was just following a draft courthouse policy that called for court personnel to refer immigration agents looking to make an arrest in the courthouse to supervisors.

Flores-Ruiz was facing state battery charges and was scheduled to appear at a hearing in front of Dugan the morning of the incident. After his arrest by officers that morning, he was deported months later.

The government’s case is expected to run through Thursday.

The maximum sentence for the more serious charge, obstruction, is five years in prison, though federal judges have much discretion to go lower.

This courtroom sketch depicts Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan in court, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wis. (Adela Tesnow via AP)