President Donald Trump suggested more military action is to come in Iran, saying the negotiators there took too long to agree to a deal and would now “pay the price.”
Trump has given mixed messages about the Iran war in the past week, saying at one point Tuesday that the attack “wasn’t a big deal” because the pilots were rescued, but then approving strikes on air defense, ground control stations, and surveillance radar sites. He appears to have soured further on Iran overnight, denigrating and threatening its leadership in a Wednesday morning post on Truth Social.
“Iran’s Military is a complete and total mess. Much of it, like their Navy and Air Force, doesn’t even exist anymore – They have been completely defeated. Iran is all talk and no action. The Bully of the Middle East is DEAD!!!” he said.
Trump then proceeded to threaten the battered nation, saying it had waited for too long to strike a favorable deal.
“They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!” he continued.
Also on Wednesday morning, Trump gave new details about the downing of the Apache helicopter to Fox News, revealing that the Iranian drone had lodged itself in the cockpit between the pilot and crewman, but failed to explode. The pilot then lowered the burning helicopter into the water, where the two were rescued by a naval drone, a first in U.S. history.
Trump said Iran was “tapping the United States along,” and he was mulling new strikes on Iranian bridges, power plants, and other strategic infrastructure.
Following the agreement to a ceasefire on April 8, the war with Iran has simmered, with the United States, Israel, and Iran frequently teetering on the brink of a full return to hostilities. The continued blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s intransigence over its nuclear program, and Israel’s war against Hezbollah in Lebanon have all formed the biggest cleavages, and the past week has seen the conflict heat up to its greatest extent since the ceasefire.
Israel and the U.S. struck Iran directly in force for the first time since the ceasefire over the past week, Israel in response to Iran’s own direct missile attacks over Jerusalem’s strikes against Hezbollah, and the U.S. in response to Iran downing an Apache helicopter. Iran’s missile attack against Israel last week was the first since the ceasefire.
Tehran has also grown more belligerent in its public rhetoric in recent weeks. Its leadership has grown weary of the economic damage wrought by Trump’s naval blockade of Iran, and the existential danger posed to Hezbollah by Israel’s intensifying war.
WHO IS MORE DESPERATE FOR A DEAL: TRUMP OR IRAN?
Trump lamented that the U.S. blockade’s effectiveness wasn’t receiving more media attention in a follow-up Truth Social post on Wednesday.
“The Fake News Media refuses to report how EFFECTIVE the U.S. Naval BLOCKADE is, the most successful Blockade in the history of Naval Warfare. NOTHING GETS THROUGH unless we want it to. IT IS A STEEL WALL! Iran is doing ZERO business, not paying their military, or any of their bills, and quickly becoming a FAILED NATION! Lots of oil is getting out. Praise be to Allah!” he said.
