Donald Trump has sparked disbelief and mockery after an extraordinary White House briefing that critics claimed was more reminiscent of an SNL skit.
The President used the press conference yesterday to detail the rescue of two American pilots shot down over Iran, hailing the mission as ‘a breathtaking show of skill and precision, lethality and force’.
The F-15E fighter jet was brought down on Good Friday, with the two crew ejecting after the strike.
The pilot was rescued immediately but his weapons systems officer was not recovered by US forces until Saturday night.
Mr Trump said the mission proved Washington had ‘achieved overwhelming air dominance and superiority over the Iranian skies’.
But critics labelled the press conference one of the President’s ‘craziest’ yet, with YouTube personality and comedian Jimmy Dore attacking his narrative over the rescue.
He said: ‘Pretending that getting a fighter jet shot down by a military that Trump said was “Completely Decimated” as a victory is pure clown show.
‘Iran is humiliated? Everything they say is projection and a confession.’
Another commentator wrote on X: ‘That was one of the craziest press conferences Trump has ever given. Absolute comedy.’
It comes as Mr Trump signalled a frantic, optimistic push for a peace deal with what he called a ‘decapitated’ Iranian regime – while simultaneously authorizing the most ‘ferocious’ wave of American strikes to date.
The President would not disclose whether he would be scaling back the bombing campaign, saying: ‘I don’t know. I can’t tell. It depends what they do.’
An American military plane flying low over Iran on Sunday during the daring rescue mission
Donald Trump warned that the entire country of Iran could be ‘taken out’ in one night, adding that it could be on Tuesday
Trump also used the briefing to issue a terrifying final warning to Tehran, setting a hard deadline for Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.
‘The entire country could be taken out in one night – and that night might be tomorrow night,’ Trump said. He warned that if a deal isn’t reached, he will order the total demolition of Iran’s civilian infrastructure, vowing to leave the nation in the ‘Stone Age.’
‘Every bridge in Iran will be decimated by tomorrow night… every power plant will be out of business, burning, exploding and never to be used again,’ Trump warned, adding that it would take the Iranian people ‘100 years to rebuild’ without American help.
Army Vet Clay Harmon called it ‘absolute madness’ on X.
‘Trump just told Iran to open the strait or face bombing Tuesday. No lawyers. No press conference. straight from the president. When did we last have a president like this?’ Harmon reacted.
The President claimed he had already ‘road–tested’ this strategy, boasting that he recently ordered the destruction of Iran’s largest bridge in just 10 minutes to ‘force compliance’ when negotiations stalled.
Trump also floated a plan for the US to seize control of the Strait of Hormuz and charge global shipping ‘tolls’ for passage.
‘Why shouldn’t we? We’re the winner,’ Trump reasoned, comparing the strategy to his administration’s handling of Venezuelan oil. ‘They are militarily defeated. The only thing they have is the psychology of, oh, we’re gonna drop a couple of mines in the water.’
Still while Secretary of War Pete Hegseth stood at the same podium Monday claiming that US strikes are ramping up to record–breaking volumes every single day, the Pentagon’s own data suggests otherwise.
‘Per the President’s direction, today will be the largest volume of strikes since day one… Tomorrow, even more than today,’ Hegseth told reporters.
However, figures from US Central Command show that the pace of operations has actually fluctuated over the last three weeks, maintaining a steady average of roughly 250 strikes per day rather than the exponential daily increase claimed by the administration.
In one of the briefing’s most notable moments, Trump said that Iranian civilians are actually ‘begging’ the US to continue the bombardment.
‘We’ve had numerous intercepts. Please keep bombing,’ Trump claimed, asserting that civilians living near blast zones would rather suffer through the strikes than live under the current regime.
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Smoke rises over Azadi (Freedom) Square following a strike, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran
President Trump posts his plans on Truth Social – giving Iran a firm deadline before ‘all hell will reign down on them’
President Donald Trump has sparked disbelief and mockery after an extraordinary White House briefing on Monday that critics claimed was more reminiscent of an SNL skit
An F-15 airman was rescued in a daring mission on Saturday evening after the fighter jet was shot down by Iranian forces. The pilot was safely ejected and rescued by two military helicopters that same day, but the airman remained missing
Trump used the briefing to issue a terrifying final warning to Tehran, setting a hard deadline for Tuesday at 8:00 p.m
He contrasted the ‘precision’ of US forces, bragging that he sees ‘better with goggles at night’ than in daylight, with the ‘brutality’ of regime snipers who he claimed shot female protesters ‘right between the eyes.’
Trump didn’t reserve his vitriol for Iran alone, turning his sights on ‘disappointing’ European allies. He mocked the United Kingdom’s offer of ‘two old, broken aircraft carriers’ and slammed NATO for sitting on the sidelines.
‘I think it’s a mark on NATO that will never disappear,’ Trump said, before boasting that American technology is so superior it recently intercepted 101 out of 101 missiles fired at the USS Abraham Lincoln.
As the 8pm ET Tuesday deadline looms, the world watches to see if Trump’s ‘instincts’ lead to a historic peace deal or the ‘obliteration’ he so vividly described.
