Trump threatens Iran leaders: ‘Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today’

President Trump boasted of the U.S. military’s strength in an early Friday morning social media post, threatening Tehran with new attacks. 

“We have unparalleled firepower, unlimited ammunition, and plenty of time – Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today,” the president wrote in a Truth Social post. 

“They’ve been killing innocent people all over the world for 47 years, and now I, as the 47th President of the United States of America, am killing them,” he continued. “What a great honor it is to do so!”

Trump began his Friday message by criticizing U.S. media’s coverage of Operation Epic Fury. 

“We are totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran, militarily, economically, and otherwise, yet, if you read the Failing New York Times, you would incorrectly think that we are not winning,” the president said. 

“Iran’s Navy is gone, their Air Force is no longer, missiles, drones and everything else are being decimated, and their leaders have been wiped from the face of the earth,” he added. 

It’s unclear if Trump was referring to a specific story with his dig at The New York Times. The outlet reported this week that Trump and his advisors miscalculated Iran’s response to the war, and scooped an initial Pentagon assessment pointing blame at the U.S. for a strike that killed scores of girls at a school early in the war.

U.S. military operations have hit approximately 6,000 Iranian targets since the conflict began at the end of February and have hit or sunk over 90 Iranian vessels, according to U.S. Central Command (Centcom). 

Trump’s threats follow a stark warning on Thursday from Iran’s new leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, to U.S. bases in the region. 

In his first public message since succeeding his father, the former Iranian supreme leader, who was killed by joint missile strikes from the U.S. and Israel on Tehran, Khamenei vowed to “avenge the blood” of those killed during the conflict. 

Khamenei also lost his wife and was injured during the strikes that killed his father. 

“The Strait of Hormuz must remain closed. American bases in the Middle East must be closed,” the new leader said in a statement read by Iranian state media. “Iran’s other military and regional capabilities will be activated if necessary.”

Retaliatory strikes from Iran on U.S. bases in the Middle East left seven service members dead. An additional four U.S. military soldiers died on Thursday after a refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq as part of Operation Epic Fury, Centcom said.

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