After five days of escalating conflict between Israel and Iran—sparked by Israeli airstrikes on Thursday night and Friday morning—the world is on edge as the prospect of U.S. involvement in the war appears increasingly likely. A large deployment of American aerial and naval assets to the region has heightened concerns that full-scale intervention may be imminent.
While U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has insisted that the deployments are defensive in nature, President Donald Trump’s comments on Tuesday painted a more confrontational picture, suggesting a readiness to escalate militarily.
Trump made two provocative posts on Truth Social that appeared to signal an aggressive posture toward Iran. In the first, he wrote simply: “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER”—a message widely interpreted as an indication that he is not interested in negotiations or deals with Tehran, short of total capitulation.
In a second post, Trump boasted:
“We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran. Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn’t compare to American made, conceived, and manufactured ‘stuff.’ Nobody does it better than the good ol’ USA. We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there — We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The post was quickly labeled a direct threat against another country’s head of state.
Trump also directed criticism at those urging caution, particularly members of his own administration. When asked aboard Air Force One about Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard’s March assessment that Iran was not actively developing nuclear weapons and that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had not ordered such efforts, Trump bluntly responded:
“I don’t care what she said. I think they were very close to having one.”
Gabbard, a longtime critic of U.S. interventionism—an outlook shared by many in Trump’s base—was reportedly not invited to a key national security meeting held at Camp David on June 8, where the impending Israeli strikes on Iran were discussed. Typically, a DNI would be expected to attend such a high-level session.
Tensions have also emerged between Trump and some of his prominent allies. He has recently taken jabs at conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, another vocal critic of military action against Iran. In an interview with The Atlantic, Trump remarked that he gets to decide what “America First” means, a pointed rebuttal to critics who argue that escalating conflict with Iran contradicts that principle.