Trump Folds Immediately after New Strikes on Iran

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3:56Ben Meiselas:Donald Trump just announced that he is launching major strikes on Iran. But then within about 20 minutes of him announcing that, he said, we're done. And now Iran is going to make a deal with us. He said he's speaking with the leaders of Iran. He said they were calling him in the situation room. He was talking to the main leaders of Iran, and they were figuring this all out. As he said, he was bombing Iran. He said with nearly 50 Tomahawk missiles. He said there were planes that were loitering and flying all over Tehran and throughout Iran from the United States military. And he said this shows strength.

4:37Ben Meiselas:As you know, he lies about everything. So let's just go through the events that just unfolded. It's quite bizarre. Within about 20 minutes of Donald Trump saying he was launching a massive attack on Iran, that kind of fizzled out. There was a few targets that were hit around Kashem and Bonder Abbas, but everything Trump and CENTCOM were saying about the attacks, like flying over Tehran and flying over other areas, turned out to just be just more complete lies. and Iran responded by saying, okay, we're just going to shut down the Strait of Hormuz totally and no ships are going to be able to go, even friendly ones.

5:26Ben Meiselas:We're just going to shut it all down. We don't know what you're doing. We're going to strike Israel now. And then Israel responded, we don't know what Trump's doing. Netanyahu threw Trump under the bus. Yeah, we have no clue what this plan is. We did the other stuff, but we really don't know what he's even doing right here. Let me just break down what just unfolded. And I'll share with you when Donald Trump calls state regime media Fox and he says to them, I'm speaking with the Iranians now, to which the Iranian leadership, the IRGC goes, we're not talking to him. We don't know what he's saying.

6:00Ben Meiselas:He's just making this up. So here's the sequence. Trump calls Barack Ravid over at Axios, Trump stenographer, propagandist over at Axios. And here's what Ravid says. Trump held a meeting in the Situation Room to discuss additional possible strikes against Iran just hours after telling reporters, we are going to hit them hard today. Powerful strikes we're preparing for. The sources said that one of the options Trump is considering is a large-scale, short-term operation. Then Trump and others in the Trump regime told Barack Ravid, that's the plan we're carrying out. Large-scale operation, we're flying over Tehran, we're going to hit Iran really hard and we're going to destroy a lot of their infrastructure.

6:52Ben Meiselas:Barack Ravid reports the attacks on Iran begun. We did hear explosions in Sirik, Manab, Isfahan, and Keshem Island. And based on what was being reported from Trump officials, it seemed that this was a massive attack that was on a different level than what took place the day before. Not just like, all these attacks are serious. I don't want to downplay them, but they were describing it as the big one. The massive one was underway. So Iran's parliament convenes. Their national security committee says, okay, we are going to prepare for the next phase of this war, which seemed to indicate we're shutting down the Bab el-Mandeep Strait.

7:43Ben Meiselas:The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced full and complete closures over the Strait of Hormuz. All traffic shut down. They said, we are going to start striking American ships in the Persian Gulf that have still been stuck there. Because despite what Donald Trump said earlier in the day, the Strait of Hormuz is controlled by Iran, not the United States. Donald Trump made up that weird lie in the Oval Office presser where he said, I love inflation. He also said, we've been bringing out 100 million barrels of oil, and we've been bringing out these ships and been helping them get out of the Shred of Hormuz.

8:22Ben Meiselas:These ships, these very large container ships, they're gigantic. They're like football fields long. There's no hiding that if they're getting in and out. So Trump just completely made that up as well. But then after Iran said, okay, we're going to shut down the Bab al-Mandib. We're going to threaten to shut it down. We're not going to fully shut it, but we'll threaten it. And we're going to start shooting up some U.S. ships. Donald Trump then rushes to the Wall Street Journal, and then the following gets leaked. Despite authorizing new strikes on Iran, Trump has not abandoned diplomacy. Trump says he's using military pressure to force concessions while still pursuing a nuclear deal with Iran.

9:05Ben Meiselas:And then he calls up Fox and he says, I spoke directly with Iranian officials. I told them the bombing will stop shortly. We did 49 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Iran tonight, and we have our jets flying over Tehran. But Trump says, I think we're going to be very close to a deal. But he tells Fox, we will bomb the shit out of Iran tomorrow if they don't sign a deal with us in the morning. So we're going to stop right now, but we're going to bomb the shit out of him tomorrow is what he's telling Fox. And he goes, I haven't given up diplomacy. And the reason we're doing this is in response to Iran having a Shahid drone strike an Apache helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz.

9:53Ben Meiselas:I'm going to address that in a moment right here. And then Trump tells Wall Street Journal, I've got this under control. I got this under control. Don't worry. I'm not losing control because there's a lot of people saying he's losing control. He's lost control a while ago. So then he calls up state regime media, which calls itself Fox. And he goes and tells the reporter that I spoke to, he goes, Iran called me tonight. Hello, Donald. This is Iran calling. Donald, we would really like to make a deal, sir. Please don't strike us. This is Iran, sir. Ever wake up sweaty, freezing, or just uncomfortable?

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12:23that Iran called him tonight. Top Iranian officials and President Trump spoke directly, according to the commander in chief tonight, as the president was sitting in the situation room. And he told me that the Iranians asked them to stop bombing. And the president said to me, the bombing will stop shortly.

12:42Ben Meiselas:And of course, embarrassingly, humiliatingly, shamefully for the United States, Iranian leadership, IRGC and their political leadership as well. They deny Trump's claim about speaking to Iranian leaders and telling them that the bombing will end tonight. Iran says there's no, there's pure falsehoods. We're not doing it. We're not having any conversations. We don't know what he's talking about. Trump goes back to state regime media, speaks to this Fox host. Trey Yinkst is like Trump's new fave to talk to. And then Trey from Fox is like, I asked him, so what happens if Iran's don't? What happens if the Iranian leaders you're talking to, what if they don't sign the deal?

13:30Ben Meiselas:Trump goes, I'll blow the, I'll blow the shit out of them tomorrow. Very presidential Donald. I'm being sarcastic. Let's play this clip. I asked him what will happen if the Iranians do not sign an agreement that was put forward by American negotiators. President Trump said, quote, we'll bomb the S out of them tomorrow night. And so the president is leaving the military option on the table. Then Donald Trump says, let me tell you what we did. 49 Tomahawk missiles. We went planes over Tehran. We bombed them hard. This is what he says. And then it turns out that like, this is not really what happened here.

14:08Ben Meiselas:Play this clip. The president tells Fox News that 49 Tomahawk missiles were used to hit targets inside of Iran, some of them as close as 40 miles from the Iranian capital of Tehran. The president said that U.S. fighter jets are also operating over the skies of Iran, taking out radar systems and air defense systems in the southwestern part of the country, close to the Persian Gulf. This is all taking place as the Iranians are trying to get the United States to stop the bombing campaign. President Trump told me that Iran called him tonight. Top Iranian officials and President Trump spoke directly, according to the commander in chief tonight, as the president was sitting in the situation room.

14:50And he told me that the Iranians asked them to stop bombing. And the president said to me, the bombing will stop shortly.

14:58Ben Meiselas:As AM key mapping explains, Trump's claim in an interview with Fox is unfounded, probably false. The only aircraft seen over Tehran was an Iranian military helicopter. There were no U.S. aircraft nearby. The deepest U.S. fighter jets flew over Kesham Island in the Strait of Hormuz. Additionally, these strikes only hit some Iranian Navy air defense radar and missile sites, just like kind of like the day before. They were precisely zero targets and airstrikes deep inside Iran. Iranian media denies there's any conversations. But CENTCOM, which has been turned into this Trumpian propaganda weirdness, CENTCOM released a statement falsely claiming the Strait of Hormuz is now open.

15:45Ben Meiselas:I kid you not. This is from CENTCOM. And I don't know if, you know, like me, you may have thought once upon a time, well, at least CENTCOM is credible. That guy, Brad Cooper, Admiral Cooper. Oh, he has disgraced CENTCOM. I've spoken to a lot of top military people also, and they are embarrassed by Cooper. Cooper shamed himself and then they despised this guy. Like he's a clown to them. And the top military, retired military people who I speak to, they tell me Cooper is the biggest clown right now. And they said he was, they're shocked that he's doing this. This is what CENTCOM posts. Claim, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard claims that the Strait of Hormuz is closed.

16:30Ben Meiselas:Truth, commercial ships are continuing to transit in and out of the Strait of Hormuz tonight. Why lie about that? What a dumb thing to lie about. What are you talking about, CENTCOM? But that's what they said. And going back to Trump calling state regime media Fox, I asked him if the ceasefire is over. Trump said, there never was a ceasefire really to begin with. Okay. We know that, but at least you're admitting it now. Let's play this, Glenn. I asked the president if the ceasefire is over. He told me this was the most violated ceasefire in the history of the world. He also spoke about the broader situation.

17:05And Vice President J.D. Vance also spoke momentarily. The phone at one point was on speaker and the vice president talked about how this negotiating team has dealt with the Iranians, understanding that they have to deal with both moderates and more extreme voices inside of Iran, ultimately to get a deal done. And as the president has told me previously and tonight reiterated, the Iranians understand force. And that is the president's thinking, launching these new strikes tonight, much heavier than what we saw last night. Again, sending a message to the Iranian regime that they're either going to sign on the dotted line or this bombing campaign is going to continue.

17:43The president told Fox News, we've hit them hard tonight. And again, he went on to say that he spoke directly with top Iranian officials in Tehran who asked him to stop the bombing. The president is optimistic that a deal can be reached here. But again, he is reserving the military option. And again, tonight, the latest numbers that we have, according to President Trump, who spoke exclusively with Fox News from the Situation Room, 49 Tomahawk missiles, fighter jets over the skies of Iran, and the U.S. military hammering the Iranian regime, sending a message to those in Tehran that they have two options here.

18:18Either the war returns and they get hammered on the battlefield, or ultimately they sign this deal that was presented by American negotiators.

18:25Ben Meiselas:Before these strikes took place, you had Hegseth over at CENTCOM saying, we're going to be busy tonight. They tried to tap us along in the negotiation. Now we're going to tap them. Oh, we're going to tap them? Okay. Okay, Hegseth, let's play it. But of course he is busy because CENTCOM, Central Command, will be busy tonight because President Trump said we will be hitting Iran hard and we will be. because Iran has a chance to make a good deal, a great deal to codify what they said they've been willing to do and they haven't been willing to do it. So as President Trump said, they've been tap, tap, tapping.

19:07You can see when someone's trying to tap, tap, tap on a deal. Instead, they're going to have tap, tap, tap bombs dropping on key facilities in Iran from the United States of America.

19:16Ben Meiselas:Then he said, we don't have to restart the war department. We set the terms. We set the terms. This is like the corniest straight, remember DVDs? Straight to DVD movie scripts. Let's play it. And that's not because we want to restart anything. We don't have to restart. It's because we are, the War Department is prepared to set the terms to ensure that we get the kind of deal President Trump expects. And Admiral Cooper and the team here at CENTCOM has done a phenomenal job from the beginning. Yeah, and then Hegseth is like, this was when he was in Cuba earlier in the day, and he was like, Trump has your back.

19:57Ben Meiselas:When you go and you need to get done what needs to get done, he's basically talking about war crimes. We've got your back if you do what we tell you to do. Let's play it. So on behalf of the War Department and President Trump, he always wants me to tell you that he's got your back. He's got your back in the circumstances that you need to undertake. That's all I ever wanted when I was a lieutenant here or a first lieutenant in Iraq. If you're going to ask me to do tough things or difficult things, or I have to make a tough decision at moments notice, just have my back. Because not everything's going to go right every single time.

20:28But if I'm doing it for the right reasons on behalf of the country, we are going to untie your hands and unleash you to get it done so that you come home and the bad guy doesn't. That's the point.

20:37Ben Meiselas:So that's what went down tonight. That's what went down tonight. It's a humiliation ritual for this country. I think Iran realizes just to put the United States through like this car wash humiliation ritual, we just go through it every day. They just kind of sit back while we're out there just like being led by these lunatics in the White House. These like liars, just straight up freaking weird and weak and pathetic. I don't know how else to describe it, man. Just do a deal. Don't do a deal. Just shut up. You know, it's like a brat, like a bratty child who's not getting their way and so like slaps you.

21:23Ben Meiselas:Dude, just grow up. Grow up. You're the commander in chief. Grow up. Make a deal. Get the hell out of there. Do something. Do something. I want you to get out. You should never have been there in the first place. Poor criminal. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 7 million. Thanks for watching. Want to stay plugged in? become a subscriber to our sub stack at MidasPlus.com. You'll get daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski, add free episodes of our podcast, and more exclusive content only available at MidasPlus.com.