TOI correspondent from Washington: The loss of at least six US aircraft and the uncertain fate of a missing US pilot in the war on Iran has rapidly transformed from a battlefield incident into a decisive political test for President Donald Trump, who has built his brand on ridiculing the foreign policy failures of his predecessors and projecting his image as an invincible leader. The stakes now extend far beyond the recovery of a single airman, as Pentagon officials confirm that a high-risk rescue operation is underway inside hostile Iranian territory. For Trump, who has repeatedly cast himself as America’s past opponent of “weak” leadership, the mission carries symbolic weight that could either validate or disrupt his long-cultivated aura of derring-do and dominance. The growing confrontation with Iran adds heightened urgency to concerns in defense circles about rising US air losses, operational redundancies and sustainability of the campaign. In addition to one F-15E fighter jet and A-10 attack aircraft lost this week, the US also lost an AWACS aircraft and three other F-15s in “friendly fire” in Kuwait. While one of the F-15 pilots shot down by Iran has been rescued, the other is missing. US officials also said the pilot of an A-10 shot down by Iran on Thursday diverted the damaged plane to Kuwaiti airspace before bailing out and was later rescued. Unnamed officials told US media that two US search and rescue helicopters were hit by Iranian fire, wounding their crews. Trump has not commented directly on the incident, although he shared a video of a massive bridge collapse on Friday with the caption: “Iran’s largest bridge has collapsed, never to be used again.” On Saturday morning, he posted, “Remember when I gave Iran ten days to make a deal or open the Strait of Hormuz. Time is running out – 48 hours before all hell will reign over them. Glory be to God!” – Again without mentioning the missing pilot.The test now is whether he can continue to boast of his aura of invincibility or whether it will collapse. For years, Trump has used history as a political weapon. He has regularly referenced the Iran hostage crisis to portray Jimmy Carter as the embodiment of American humiliation, and has often declared that under his leadership such a crisis would have been resolved “in 24 hours.” Similarly, he has ridiculed Joe Biden over America’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, calling it “the biggest embarrassment in the history of our country”, while calling the abandonment of Bagram Air Base a strategic folly.His criticisms did not spare fellow Republicans either. Trump has repeatedly called the invasion of Iraq under George W. Bush the “worst mistake” in American history, citing flawed intelligence on weapons of mass destruction that his administration is being held responsible for with respect to Iran. He has also ridiculed Barack Obama for failing to enforce his “red line” in Syria and for negotiating the Iran nuclear deal, which Trump calls “one of the worst deals ever.”“Against this backdrop, the downed F-15 and missing pilot present a serious vulnerability with critics saying this is exactly the kind of situation Trump has spent a decade saying would never happen under him. Trump’s representatives are holding their breath in the hope that the missing pilot will be rescued rather than captured, while Iran has announced a reward and started searching for him. Despite their beating, Iranians rejoiced over the missing pilot on Friday. Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf mocked the US in a post on Twitter, writing, “After defeating Iran 37 times in a row, the brilliant no-strategy war they started has now been downgraded from ‘regime change’ to ‘Hey! Can someone find our pilots? Please?’ Wow! What incredible progress. Absolute genius.”The administration has released limited details about the rescue effort, but officials have indicated that special operations forces, supported by surveillance and electronic warfare resources, are attempting to locate and extract the pilot. Military planners acknowledge that timing is of the essence. The prospect of the pilot being captured and paraded around for publicity purposes raises painful historical parallels – exactly the kind Trump has long used to attack his predecessors.Increasing pressure is the broader trajectory of the conflict. US negotiators acknowledged that while the loss of air assets was greater than anticipated, Iranian defenses had proven more flexible and adaptive. Each additional loss destroys not only operational capability, but also the perception of overwhelming American dominance that Trump has sought to project.That perception was bolstered by what the administration has claimed was a nearly flawless intervention in Venezuela, where U.S. support helped stabilize a puppet government without significant American casualties. The success there emboldened Trump and strengthened his belief that decisive action, coupled with rhetorical toughness, could lead to quick victory without protracted entanglement. However, Iran is proving to be a far more formidable opponent, even if it is suffering losses on a daily basis.For Trump, the rescue operation is more than a military operation; This is a test of credibility. A successful extraction would strengthen their claims to decisive leadership and operational superiority. However, failure could provide critics with a powerful counter-example that would undermine years of political messaging. In a presidency defined by bold claims and sharp contrasts with the past, a pilot’s fate now holds disproportionate importance both on the battlefield and in the court of public opinion.