President Donald Trump unleashed a fiery social media barrage on Monday, blaming his predecessors for forcing his hand in launching military strikes against Iran while lashing out at critics who questioned the controversial operation that has already claimed at least six American lives.
In a series of posts on Truth Social, Trump targeted former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, claiming their 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran created the conditions that necessitated Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign now entering its second week.
Trump argued that without his termination of the Iran Nuclear Deal, the country would have already obtained nuclear weapons. He accused the former presidents of enabling the current threat, writing that the deal was “the most dangerous transaction we have ever entered into.” Trump signed off the post by thanking himself in the third person.
The president’s aggressive defense of the Iran strikes came as criticism mounted from both sides of the political spectrum. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, signed in 2015 during the Obama administration, was widely considered one of his signature foreign policy achievements. Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal during his first term, calling it “horrible” and “one-sided.”
Hours later, Trump escalated his rhetoric against domestic opponents of the military action, which proceeded without congressional approval and is expected to last several weeks. He accused “Radical Left Democrats” of opposing the strikes only because he ordered them, claiming they would have demanded military action had he not acted.
The president’s comments came as Iran launched counterattacks on U.S. bases and allies across the Middle East. The State Department has advised Americans to depart 14 countries in the region as the conflict shows signs of expanding beyond initial projections.
Trump’s justification for the strikes shifted throughout the week. During a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday, he claimed negotiations with Iranian officials had broken down. “We were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion they were going to attack first,” Trump said. “I didn’t want that to happen.”
Those comments, however, contradicted statements from Pentagon officials who told reporters they saw no sign Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States before the strikes commenced Saturday.
The military operation has also created an unusual rift within MAGA media circles. Podcast host Megyn Kelly and conservative commentator Tucker Carlson have publicly criticized the Iran campaign, with Carlson calling the attacks “absolutely disgusting and evil” in an ABC News interview and Kelly questioning whether American servicemembers died for the United States or for Israel.
When asked about the criticism from his usual media allies, Trump dismissed their concerns in an interview with The Inner Circle on Substack. “I think that MAGA is Trump — MAGA’s not the other two,” he said. “MAGA wants to see our country thrive and be safe.”
The operation has killed hundreds of civilians and resulted in the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Trump confirmed the death on social media before Iranian state media reluctantly acknowledged it. In a CNN interview with Jake Tapper, Trump suggested the campaign is far from over, promising intensified military action ahead.
Despite the escalating conflict, Trump has yet to deliver a formal address to the nation about the military action beyond an eight-minute video posted from Mar-a-Lago in the early hours of February 28 as American and Israeli warplanes launched their initial strikes. He did appear at a White House Medal of Honor ceremony, where he veered off-script multiple times to discuss the Iran situation alongside tangential remarks about gold drapes and White House renovations.
Critics, including Senator Bernie Sanders and other progressive lawmakers, have questioned the legal authority for launching such a significant military operation without congressional approval. Trump has said the conflict is projected to be a four-to-five-week campaign, though he suggested he will do “whatever it takes” to neutralize Iran’s military capabilities.
Neither Obama nor Biden have responded to Trump’s latest attacks. The situation continues to develop as American forces remain engaged across multiple fronts in the Middle East region, with casualties mounting on both sides of the conflict.