President Donald Trump announced Sunday that the B-2 bomber pilots who executed precision strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities will be honored at the White House for their heroism and flawless performance during Operation Midnight Hammer.
During an interview on Sunday Morning Futures, Trump praised the pilots as “brilliant” and confirmed their upcoming visit: “They’re going to come to the White House,” he told host Maria Bartiromo. “These people flew 36 hours in a small space — a big plane, but mostly filled with bombs — and they flew so brilliantly.”
Trump detailed the mission’s intensity, noting the pilots struck a target “half the size of a refrigerator door” from 50,000 feet in the air, traveling at high speed through hostile territory. “They hit it every single time,” he said.
The bombers launched from the continental U.S., refueled multiple times in flight, and struck targets at Iran’s Fordo and Natanz nuclear facilities. Additional sites, including Isfahan, were struck with Tomahawk missiles fired from American submarines, according to Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine. The B-2s later returned safely to their base in Missouri.
Trump hailed the technology and precision involved: “They went in there with the most sophisticated bombs anywhere in the world. These things can go 30 stories deep into granite. And they did obliterate it.”
.@POTUS on the B-2 pilots: “They’re going to come to the White House … They hit a target the size of a circle — a little target, they say half the size of a refrigerator door, from 50,000 feet up in the air going at a rapid speed … And they hit it every single time.” pic.twitter.com/jhWxAuloR5
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 29, 2025
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also praised the operation and the Americans who carried it out. “I want to recognize the pilots, the sailors, the soldiers — warriors, all of them,” Hegseth said. “Every American involved in this operation performed flawlessly.”
The White House event is expected to serve as a powerful show of gratitude and strength as the Trump administration continues to assert a muscular foreign policy agenda in the face of escalating threats from Iran.