WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military has confirmed that a third service member is believed to be dead in Friday’s attack on a base in Jordan and identified them as Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, 28, of Ozone Park, New York.

The confirmation brings the death toll to 18 U.S. service members killed since the war began.

On Monday, the Pentagon identified Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, as the two other soldiers who were killed in Jordan in Friday’s attacks.

The soldiers were killed by Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks in the first troop deaths from direct Iranian fire since the opening days of the war. They were deployed to support a U.S. mission against the Islamic State group, a U.S. Central Command statement said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faced questions and protests Tuesday over the U.S. war with Iran, which he estimated has cost $37.5 billion so far, as Republicans prepare a $95 billion GOP budget package to fund the military, along with other White House priorities.

Hegseth provided the new estimate, up from earlier assessments, during at times fiery testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee. Several times, protesters interrupted Hegseth's opening remarks, which came days after the Pentagon announced that three more American service members have died in the conflict, bringing the death toll to 17, and that more than 100 have been injured since early July.

Hegseth said the supplemental war funding is an “urgent, necessary” injection of money, and with President Donald Trump's proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget a generational investment in the military.

“Without these funds, we face critical shortfalls,” Hegseth testified.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump pledged to help Lebanon “a lot” during a White House meeting on Tuesday with the country’s leader, Joseph Aoun, who came to push for long-term calm after months of war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.

The U.S. has championed peace in Lebanon but also has been increasingly distracted by a new round of escalation with the war in Iran, which has destabilized much of the Middle East. Trump says he now has little interest in talks with Iran’s leader to end the war — at least for now.

In the meantime, Lebanon and Israel have held rare direct talks mediated by Washington. Aoun’s White House visit was the first by a Lebanese president since 2009.

“It’s been a very badly treated place and country and we’re going to have it properly treated and treated with the respect it deserves,” Trump told Aoun during a meeting which wrapped up the Lebanese leader’s four-day visit to Washington. “We’re gonna help it a lot,” he said, without giving concrete details.