Trump Warns “We” Control Iran’s Airspace in Ominous Post
Donald Trump demanded “unconditional surrender” Tuesday in a series of escalating threats on Iran.
“We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn’t compare to American made, conceived, and manufactured ‘stuff.’ Nobody does it better than the good ol’ USA.”
The Israeli military had previously announced Monday that its strikes had crippled Iran’s air defenses, allowing Israel to drop bombs directly over Tehran instead of using long-range missiles. Trump’s ominous post—which worryingly conflates Israeli forces with American—comes as a reminder that to the United States, war is first and foremost a business enterprise, which could explain his decision to completely ignore intelligence from his own government that determined Iran was not close to obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Trump then decided to up the ante by threatening Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei directly.
“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” Trump wrote in another post on Truth Social. “He is an easy target, but is safe there—We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Three U.S. officials told CBS News Sunday that Trump opposed taking out Khamenei. Recent reports from Israeli sources, however, have said that Trump has only been pretending to oppose Israel’s military operation in Iran and helped to coordinate Israeli movements behind closed doors.
So while the president’s hemming and hawing is certainly a power trip, it’s possible he is also attempting to obscure his support for Israel’s military action, which is unpopular with voters.
“UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” Trump counseled in a third post.
Hours after Donald Trump complained before the G7 that Russia had been kicked out of the global trade coalition, the Kremlin ordered air strikes on Kyiv that killed 15 people—including an American.
In the most lethal attack on Ukraine’s capital this year, Russia launched more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The barrage devastated a nine-story apartment building and injured 156 people, local officials said. Other regions of Ukraine including Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad, and Mykolaiv were also hit.
The U.S. citizen died of shrapnel wounds sustained during the attack, according to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko. Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko told reporters that the American was 62 years old and had been killed in the Solomyanskyi district of Kyiv. They “died in a house opposite to the one where medics were providing assistance to the victims,” Klitschko said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday that the barrage had not hit civilians but had targeted “military-industrial complex facilities in the Kyiv region and Zaporizhzhia.”
The assault occurred shortly after Trump spent much of his public appearance before the G7 boasting about his cozy relationship with Putin, while lamenting that the foreign power did not have a seat at the table.
“The G7 used to be the G8,” Trump said Monday. “Barack Obama and a person named Trudeau didn’t want to have Russia in, and I would say that that was a mistake, because I think you wouldn’t have a war right now if you had Russia in,” he added, referring to former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The seven other members of the then G8 suspended Russia’s membership in 2014 as punishment for Moscow’s annexation of Crimea.
The Ukraine war, now in its fourth year, has been prolonged by several failed peace talks.
In the months since he took office, Trump has claimed that Russia has come ready and willing to reach a peace deal, even though many of its demands—such as staking a Russian flag in Crimea—reverse long-standing U.S. policy.
Following a deadly air strike on Kyiv last month, European leaders urged Western countries to enact sanctions on Moscow as a way to reel Putin back to the negotiating table. But Trump responded by wringing his hands, claiming that applying pressure on Russia would “hurt” a deal.
Trump’s aggression toward Ukraine (which included scolding and mocking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a livestreamed White House meeting) and his repeated concessions toward Russia’s enduring violence has been interpreted by Kremlin propagandists as a massive win for Russian President Vladimir Putin, resulting in televised laughter on Russian programs at the downfall of American power.
By Tuesday afternoon, the president had still not addressed the fact that Russia killed an American. Instead, his administration quietly disbanded an interagency working group focused on pressuring Russia to end the war. The group “lost steam” after it became apparent that Trump was not interested in “adopting a more confrontational stance toward Moscow,” U.S. officials told Reuters.
Senator Mike Lee fled from reporters asking him about his deeply disturbing X posts making a mockery of the murder of Minnesota Democratic state Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and lying about the killer being a leftist.
“Can you tell us about your conversation with Senator Smith? Do you regret your tweet? Do you stand by the post........
© New Republic
