The detail the US military wants to keep secret. General Caine refrained from responding to Trump in front of reporters

As President Donald Trump offered details of the risky mission to rescue the downed U.S. airman hiding in Iran during a White House news conference Monday night, he turned to General Dan Caine for help: How many troops did the U.S. ultimately send to the operation?

“Uh,” said Dan Caine, the US Army's Joint Chiefs of Staff, hesitantly.

“I'd like to keep it a secret,” Dan Caine added curtly, according to CNN.

Trump accepted, smiling and congratulating Caine on a “pretty good” answer. But the US president couldn't help but give an approximation, telling reporters that “hundreds of people” were part of the rescue effort.

“Hundreds of people could have been killed,” Trump said. “So, I had people in the military who said it wasn't a wise decision, and I understood that. But I decided to do it,” the White House leader said.

Trump: 170 aircraft involved in the rescue of the two American pilots from Iran

At the same press conference, Trump announced that more than 170 military aircraft were involved in the rescue of the two American pilots from Iran last weekend.

The first rescue mission involved 21 aircraft, the US president said, while the second involved 155 aircraft.

“I took them all there,” he added, according to AFP and Agerpres.

Trump also revealed that two military transport planes got stuck in the sand and had to be destroyed.