Trump Praises U.S. Troops for Striking Iran’s Military, Attacks Media Coverage
Trump shares videos saluting service members he says destroyed Iran's navy, air force, and air defenses, while accusing journalists of endangering American lives.
WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald J. Trump shared videos on Truth Social praising U.S. service members for what he described as the destruction of Iran‘s military capabilities, while sharply attacking American journalists for coverage he said put troops’ lives at risk.
Here is the full post on truthsocial: “Allow me to lay it out simply for the anti-American losers in our media. These Americans right here and their peers, these, have destroyed Iran‘s Navy, destroyed Iran‘s Air Force, destroyed their air defense systems, their leadership, and their military industrial capacity, their entire defense base. Iran‘s conventional shield has been crippled and their nuclear ambitions laid bare for the world. You, this group, are ensuring that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. Courageous and historic operations that every red-blooded American is proud of. But as you know, the information space, it’s a battle space. Yet our so-called press makes Iranian state media look reasonable. Our media’s shameful lust for political retribution blinds them to the consequences of reckless so-called reporting. So-called journalists do stuff on Trump Derangement Syndrome, think they’re fighting against our president, but they’re really undermining you, our warfighters. Bottom line, too many of them hate the president more than they love the country. You see, it’s your movements and bases that they reveal to the enemy. It’s your operations that they jeopardize when they leak classified capabilities. And ultimately, it’s your lives they put directly at risk when they lie about munition stockpiles. All for a banner that will scroll on TV for 30 seconds. And I know a little about little bit about banner scrolling on TV for 30 seconds.” on October 2, 2026 at 10:25 PM ET.
This is Trump’s 13th message released today, and the last post was 1 minute ago, and it is not part of a thread. On average, Trump produces 18 posts per day since his inauguration on January 20, 2025. The move fits a broader pattern in Trump’s recent messaging, with 145 of his 540 posts over the last 30 days classified as image-only posts.
Addressing service members directly in the video, Trump credited them with dismantling Iran‘s navy, air force, air defense systems, military leadership, and industrial capacity. He called the operations “courageous and historic” and said they ensured Iran would never obtain a nuclear weapon.
Trump reserved his sharpest language for the press, accusing journalists of revealing troop movements and bases to enemies and leaking classified capabilities. Reporters motivated by opposition to his presidency were, in his words, directly putting service members’ lives at risk by lying about munition stockpiles. He closed with a self-referential note, saying he knew “a little bit about banner scrolling on TV for 30 seconds.”
Zenger analysis
Photo by Zenger analysis
Protomaps / Natural Earth – Iran
Photo by Protomaps / Natural Earth – Iran
President Trump is the author of Trump: The Art of the Deal, Trump: Think Like a Billionaire: Everything You Need to Know About Success, Real Estate, and Life, and Think Big: Make It Happen in Business and Life. Analyst and Trump supporter Rod Martin points to The Art of the Deal, Trump's 1987 book, as an explanation of his deal-making philosophy: making big announcements, pivoting often in public statements and, Martin says, ultimately getting what he wanted all along. Critics contend that Trump's books were published decades ago or were aimed at making money, not shedding light. "Generally," Martin said, "critics don't read The Art of the Deal. If they did, they would understand."