Donald Trump raised eyebrows for the way in which he boasted about U.S. forces wiping out Iranian ships.

“I have just been informed that we have destroyed and sunk 9 Iranian Naval Ships, some of them relatively large and important. We are going after the rest — They will soon be floating at the bottom of the sea, also!”

Critics quickly seized on the phrasing, noting how sunken vessels generally don’t float.

The boast came as the U.S. military continued to escalate its major combat operations in the country, which began on Saturday.

Three U.S. troops have been killed and five others seriously wounded in the operation. Trump has acknowledged that there could be further casualties in the conflict, which he has suggested may last up to a month.