An angry President Donald Trump abruptly ended a news conference and stormed out of the Oval Office after a question.
He was pressed about who was paying for his unapproved and deadly war on Iran.
It happened Monday, July 13, after CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked several direct questions, including whether the renewed military campaign was “the new normal.”
A furious Trump lashed out at her and the network, calling its coverage of Trump’s war “treasonous” and alleging CNN wants to see the U.S. lose the war.
“You know that the United States is bombing Iran again. I mean, you’ve been bombing Iran for months now. Is this just a new normal?” Collins first asked.
Trump responded by repeating what he’s said before in trying to justify his surprise attack on Iran on Feb. 28.
“You know we’re in Vietnam for 19 years. We’re here for four months. So, I think we’ve, we’ve knocked out their navy in a period of one month. We knocked out their air force. Their air force is non-existent. We knocked out most of their missiles, most of their drones,” he said, not answering her question.
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A Memorandum of Understanding the Trump administration brokered with Tehran last month collapsed after a clash last week over the vital Strait of Hormuz. Trump then launched into a familiar rant about Iran’s nuclear ambitions. He repeated claims he has made since he and Israel attacked Iran.
After launching the war, Trump first said his unauthorized military campaign targeted regime change and Iran’s ballistic missile program. Five days later, he claimed Iran was days away from building a nuclear weapon and planned to use it against Israel.
Critics, however, note that Trump spent months last summer claiming he had already destroyed Tehran’s nuclear facilities during the 12-day war he launched with Israel in June 2025.
“I say it as much as you want to listen. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. If we didn’t bomb them with the B2 bombers that plane right there,” he said, pointing to a replica on his desk, “if we didn’t bomb them, they would have had a nuclear weapon long ago,” he insisted.
Of course, his opponents have jumped on this explanation for a war that is costing Americans billions of dollars a day. They question whether he was lying about destroying Iran’s nuclear program last summer or if he’s lying about it now as the best reason for suddenly attacking another country.
“One month, within one month from the day we bombed them, they would have had one. If we didn’t do it, they would have had a nuclear weapon,” he continued to claim.
Collins then asked about the U.S. being reimbursed. Trump talked over her, latching onto the word “reimburse.”
“Yeah, I want to be reimbursed because we’re protecting a very rich portion of the world. We’re spending money, and so what we’ve done is we are going to be reimbursed for protection,” he insisted before again listing all his achievements so far in his war on Iran.
But he seemed to upset himself during his diatribe about what he had accomplished, suddenly lashing out at Collins and CNN.
“And then you read fake news like your, your network CNN, which is fake news,” Trump angrily stated.
“All they have is fake news because they have the fake news would rather see us lose the war than win the war, which is really treasonous, which is really treasonous in a certain way,” Trump furiously spat at Collins, whom he continued to talk over.
Soon afterward, he stormed out of the room and White House staffers quickly ushered reporters out.
Social media exploded in support for Collins, clapping back against Trump.
“YOU MAKE HIM LOOK VERY INCOMPETENT…. THAT’S WHY HE TRIES TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT TO ‘YOU’ , KAITLAN!!!!” Threads user Skyview Kevin pointed out.
Others chimed in. “He’s an actual idiot.”
This poster noted Trump’s repeated comparison of his war on Iran with the Vietnam quagmire that spanned across several administrations during the 1960s and 1970s.
“Who’s gonna tell him? Vietnam was one of, if not the biggest blunder of US military action ever. So, he’s comparing his unnecessary Iran war to that? Makes sense, I guess. He’s an idiot. I’m so embarrassed and sad for our country.”
The Vietnam War is considered one of the U.S.’s biggest military failures for a number of reasons. Although American officials were involved in the conflict between the communist North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong and South Vietnam in the mid to late 1950s, they didn’t send troops until 1965.
The U.S. suffered a strategic defeat in Vietnam. Thousands of Americans died, and the U.S. failed to preserve a non-communist South Vietnam.
