evidence: Trump claimed no U.S. troops died in Afghanistan for 18 months. Here's a fact check. [...] "When I left office, we had not lost a single service member in combat in Afghanistan in more than 18 months," Trump said at a rally in North Carolina on Aug. 21. [...] According to government data from the Defense Casualty Analysis System, there was no 18-month period that occurred entirely under Trump's presidency in which there were no deaths in combat, or "hostile" deaths, in Afghanistan.