President Donald Trump was busy whining about media coverage of his war on Iran as American troops continue to die and U.S. planes were struck.
Trump, 79, threw a fresh Truth Social meltdown on Saturday morning over reports that five Air Force refueling planes were struck and damaged at the Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia, as chaos continued to roil the Middle East in the wake of the U.S. and Israel’s attacks on Iran.
The poster-in-chief was particularly irate at the Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal, which reported that the tankers were hit during an Iranian missile strike this week. The planes were damaged but not fully destroyed, and there were no casualties, the outlet reported in a story headlined “Five Air Force Refueling Planes Hit in Iranian Strike on Saudi Arabia.”
“Yet again, an intentionally misleading headline by the Fake News Media about the five tanker planes that were supposedly struck down at an Airport in Saudi Arabia, and of no further use,” Trump wrote—before confirming the Journal’s reporting that cited two unnamed U.S. officials.
“In actuality, the Base was hit a few days ago, but the planes were not ‘struck’ or ‘destroyed.’ Four of the five had virtually no damage, and are already back in service. One had slightly more damage, but will be in the air shortly. None were destroyed, or close to that, as the Fake News said in headlines,” he said.
Trump accused the Journal, The New York Times, and “other Lowlife ‘Papers’ and Media” of wanting the U.S. to “lose the War.”
“Their terrible reporting is the exact opposite of the actual facts! They are truly sick and demented people that have no idea the damage they cause the United States of America,” he said, adding that his 2024 election win proved that Americans “understand what is happening far better than the Fake News Media!”
Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and author of a Project 2025 chapter on the agency, echoed Trump’s post with a threat to broadcasters.
“The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not,” he wrote in an X post urging the media to “course correct.”
Trump also appeared to be thinking about press coverage of his war before going to bed on Friday night.
“The Fake News Media hates to report how well the United States Military has done against Iran, which is totally defeated and wants a deal - But not a deal that I would accept!” he wrote in a post published just before midnight.
The president also attacked Pulitzer-winning journalist Maggie Haberman, blasting her as “just another SLEAZEBAG writer for The Failing New York Times” and threatening to add her to his lawsuit against The Times. He also referred to the journalist as “Maggot.”
Trump’s posts came as the U.S. Central Command confirmed that six service members died after a U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft went down in western Iraq on Thursday. CENTCOM said the incident was being investigated but denied that the plane was lost to hostile or friendly fire.
The latest developments raise the total number of Air Force refueling planes damaged or destroyed to at least seven. The Iran war has so far killed 13 U.S. service members and more than 1,200 people in Iran, with hundreds more killed in Lebanon, and dozens killed in other countries.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., Trump played dress up in the Oval Office, putting on a cowboy hat as he met with rodeo champions. He is also spending time in Palm Beach, Florida, for the second consecutive weekend.
Trump isn’t the only official closely watching press coverage of the Iran war. Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lashed out at the media and banned press photographers from Pentagon briefings over “unflattering” images of him.
