President Donald Trump expects the people around him to echo his words without hesitation — a kind of political call-and-response that keeps his version of events intact no matter the circumstances.
But that script briefly broke down in public view when Trump turned to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during a tense exchange with reporters and didn’t get the immediate reinforcement he seemed to expect, setting off a chain of moments that have only intensified questions surrounding a deadly strike on an Iranian school.
With questions swirling about whether an American missile killed over 175 children at an all-girls’ elementary school in southern Iran, the Trump administration now finds itself staring down a problem that refuses to fade despite the president’s denials and shifting explanations.
Fresh analyses from multiple news outlets are challenging Trump’s claim that Iran struck the school itself, fueling accusations that the U.S. military may have been responsible for the attack.
The controversy deepened further during a press conference Monday at Trump’s golf resort in Doral, Florida, when the president faced direct questions about reports suggesting a U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile likely destroyed the school on Feb. 28.
Trump, 79, interrupted the reporter asking the question.
“Well, I haven’t seen it,” Trump said, before adding that Tomahawk missiles are used by multiple countries.
“Numerous other nations have Tomahawks; they buy them from us,” Trump added, attempting to downplay the rarity of the weapon and insisting the missile itself was “very generic.”
The exchange grew more tense when another reporter pointed out that Trump appeared to be the only person in his own administration publicly making that claim.
“You just suggested that Iran got its hands on a Tomahawk and bombed its own elementary school on the first day of the war,” the reporter said. “But you’re the only person in your government saying this. Even your defense secretary wouldn’t say that when he was asked … Why are you the only person saying this?”
“Because I just don’t know enough about it,” Trump replied. “I think it’s something that I was told is under investigation.”
In a stunning turn, Trump suddenly softened his stance, telling reporters, “Whatever the report shows, I’m willing to live with that report.”
The comment marked a sharp contrast to just days earlier, when Trump appeared far more certain as reporters witnessed an awkward moment aboard Air Force One in which the president looked toward Hegseth for affirmation of his claims about the school bombing.
Standing behind the president, Hegseth hesitated when asked directly whether Trump’s assertion that Iran bombed its own school was accurate — a pause that only deepened questions about the credibility of the claim Trump had been pushing.
“We’re certainly investigating,” Hegseth said cautiously.
Trump immediately interrupted him. “We think it was done by Iran,” the president insisted. “They have no accuracy whatsoever,” he added.
The scene quickly spread online, where critics seized on what they described as a rare moment where the administration’s normally rigid message discipline appeared to crack in public view.
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One commenter wrote: “Whenever he turns to someone for affirmation, he’s just told a lie. It’s a common tell.”
Another reaction cut deep: “This is extremely disgusting he’s lower than scum we all know the truth he ordered the killing and bomb the school full of children who does he think he’s fooling we know the truth just get him out of office is dysfunctional piece of crap what is wrong his whole Administration is this functional is pure evil is syphilis out of control.”
“It’s a despicable action and every Republican is complicit. Call ’em out, shun them and vote them back into the stone age,” one user wrote.
Another added: “HE IS SO UNSERIOUS AND THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE VOTED FOR…. I want people to understand the anger in my voice.”
Beyond the political reaction, new reporting has complicated Trump’s explanation.
A video verified by The New York Times shows a Tomahawk cruise missile striking a naval base located beside the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school in the town of Minab. Weapons experts identified the missile in the footage as a Tomahawk — a weapon used by the United States military but not by Iran or Israel.
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The footage, first reported by the investigative research collective Bellingcat, shows the missile slamming into a building inside a naval installation operated by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. As the camera pans across the area, large plumes of dust and smoke can already be seen billowing from the direction of the school, indicating it had likely been struck moments earlier.
Satellite imagery reviewed by analysts shows several buildings inside the naval base hit by precision strikes around the same time the school was bombed. Investigators also noted that the school and the military compound were separated only by a wall.
Tomahawk cruise missiles are long-range guided weapons used by the U.S. Navy. According to the Pentagon, the missiles are programmed before launch and designed to strike targets with high precision.
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According to the Australian Department of Defense, only three countries currently possess Tomahawk cruise missiles: the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
Of those three nations, only one is currently involved in the military campaign against Iran.
During a briefing earlier in the conflict, Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine acknowledged that U.S. naval forces had launched Tomahawk missiles at targets across southern Iran.
Military investigators are still examining the strike. Two U.S. officials speaking anonymously told Reuters that early findings suggest American forces may have been responsible, though a final determination has not yet been reached.
