President Donald Trump posted a scathing rant against journalists over their coverage of the Israel-Iran conflict.
The U.S. launched a surprise attack on three of Iran’s nuclear sites early on Sunday after Trump made numerous threats to do so in the previous week. While Trump has claimed that the nuclear sites were “obliterated,” many news outlets have noted that a U.S. assessment of the damage is still underway.
Trump, who has been heavily focused on news coverage of the Israel-Iran war, appeared upset that journalists were raising questions about the U.S. strikes on Iran. Many conservatives and Democrats have condemned Trump for authorizing the strike without congressional approval and have questioned whether there was an imminent threat.
“The sites that we hit in Iran were totally destroyed, and everyone knows it. Only the Fake News would say anything different in order to try and demean, as much as possible — And even they say they were ‘pretty well destroyed!’“, Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He then took a jab at CNN’s Anderson Cooper by calling him a woman’s name, appearing to repeat a stereotype that people have used against gay men. Cooper has been in Israel in recent days to report on the ongoing developments in the country’s conflict with Iran.
Trump also criticized Comcast Chairman Brian Roberts, ABC News’ Jonathan Karl and NBC News for their coverage of the U.S. strikes on Iran.
“Working especially hard on this falsehood is Allison Cooper of Fake News CNN, Dumb Brian L. Roberts, Chairman of ‘Con’cast, Jonny Karl of ABC Fake News, and always, the Losers of, again, Concast’s NBC Fake News. It never ends with the sleazebags in the Media, and that’s why their Ratings are at an ALL TIME LOW — ZERO CREDIBILITY!" he wrote on Truth Social.
Many reports have also said that Iran moved its enriched uranium from the sites in the days leading up to the attack after Trump made a number of vocal threats on social media. U.S. officials have acknowledged that they are unsure what the status of Iran’s uranium is, The New York Times reported.
The decision to directly involve the U.S. in the war comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that aimed to systematically eradicate the country’s air defenses and offensive missile capabilities, while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities. But U.S. and Israeli officials have said American stealth bombers and the 30,000-pound (13,500-kilogram) bunker-buster bomb they alone can carry offered the best chance of destroying heavily fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear program buried deep underground.
“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” Trump said in a post on social media. “All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home.”
Trump added in a later post: “This is an HISTORIC MOMENT FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ISRAEL, AND THE WORLD. IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR. THANK YOU!”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Stories by Lauren Sforza
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