President Donald Trump is renewing his threats to “annihilate” Iran if it doesn’t agree to a U.S. deal to end Trump’s unapproved and deadly war. But a new report shows just how much he’s sweating behind closed doors.
Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn on Oct. 1, Trump appeared increasingly desperate as the diplomatic process with Tehran stalled.
“Now I have to make a decision. They’ll either sign a very fair deal, or they won’t exist any longer,” Trump threatened.
He’s made similar threats before, in fact, almost too many times to count at this point. Social media exploded, calling him out.
“I feel like we’ve heard this exact line, oh, I dunno, 20x before,” an exasperated X user pointed out.
“Oh, man. I bet Iran is quaking. I mean, they have only been threatened with annihilation 4,760 times and lost a war 87 times this month. Just remember, we have already stated “mission accomplished” more than once in this. Bush Jr. is cackling at the absurdity,” another declared.
This commenter sarcastically observed, “Seems the ‘stable genius’ is becoming more and more unstable by the hour.”
Another stated, “The relentless denial of reality.”
The president’s warning follows his rejection of Iran’s latest peace proposal. And it comes amid a new report detailing just how nervous he is about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s handling of the war.
News reports Thursday reveal that back in April, an angry Trump called Hegseth and other top military officials into the Oval Office, demanding an update on the war, according to The Daily Beast.
Trump reportedly had a meltdown, cussing and swearing, as his war on the Islamic Republic raged on. He’d been telling Americans repeatedly by that point that his war was “ending soon.”
Without warning and without Congressional approval Trump launched military strikes on Iran on Feb. 28 without a stated objective, strategy or endgame.
Within the first week, he landed on Iran’s nuclear weapons program as the reason after first saying it was about regime change and the country’s ballistic weapons systems. The previous summer, after a 12-day war against Tehran, he crowed for months about how he had eliminated its nuclear capabilities.
After the first weeks of the war, Trump repeatedly told the country it was almost over. Then during the tense meeting with Hegseth last spring, the former Fox News anchor told the president everything was under control.
A furious Trump lashed out.
“What the f–k is this?” Trump yelled at Hegseth and handed him a report, sources reportedly told Time.
That report was a story by The New York Times detailing how Trump’s war was draining U.S. munitions stockpiles of critical weapons. Those included long-range stealth cruise missiles, Tomahawk cruise missiles, and Patriot interceptors.
Hegseth denied the report, which also cited possible risks from China and Russia with the ammo depletion, calling it “fake news” and “exaggerated, Time reported.
The Trump administration is denying the conversation ever took place.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told The Daily Beast, “President Trump has full confidence in Secretary Hegseth, who always gives him fulsome, accurate information.”
She added, “The United States Military has enough munitions and ammo to serve all of the Commander-in-Chief’s strategic goals and beyond.”
The Pentagon called the report “completely made up, with more anonymous sources that don’t exist.”
Trump’s latest threats against Iran come after he rejected a proposal from Tehran for a seven-day ceasefire. The offer included reopening the Strait of Hormuz and renewed talks on the country’s nuclear capabilities.
Trump reportedly told Time the plan was “just not good enough” and only opened “some aspects” of the crucial maritime shipping route.
According to CBS, the U.S. has offered a counterproposal.
In recent weeks, Trump has declared that the war will end after the midterm elections coming up on Nov. 3.
