President Donald Trump is becoming increasingly “exasperated” in the White House over his ongoing war with Iran, insiders have revealed.
A new report by NBC News, citing a U.S. official and sources close to the discussions, has revealed internal turmoil between Trump, his allies and aides as they attempt to plot a way through his war.
The report said that Trump, 80, “exploded” at a meeting with his top national security officials last week.
The president was reportedly “yelling expletives” to express his frustration over the lack of progress in his war, which began on Feb. 28 and has cost the lives of 18 U.S. service members.
The official warned that while the Trump administration has “had a series of tactical victories” over the conflict, it is now “facing a strategic defeat without clear policy guidance or a decision about where this is going.” In addition, his aides and allies are struggling to agree on the appropriate path forward.
The source noted divisions in Trump’s administration over which direction to focus on; destroying Iran’s nuclear program, protecting the passage of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, or attacking Tehran’s missile and drone artillery.
“After all this time, there is no unity,” the official said.
Trump has become increasingly frustrated, two others familiar with the White House discussions told NBC, by Iran’s refusal to agree to a deal to end the conflict.
The official claimed that despite his public bravado over the war, neither Trump nor his top aides are happy with the status quo in the conflict.
“The president is exasperated,” a Trump ally, who NBC notes has spoken to the president about the war in recent weeks, claims. “I don’t think he believed it was going to be this difficult to get the Iranians to agree to a deal. There was not a real strategy for how long or what they should do to get to the endpoint.”
“He did not intend this to be a long, drawn-out war,” the ally added.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and the Pentagon for comment.
In a statement to NBC, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denied the president‘s reported tantrum. “This is false. The president has a great team whom he trusts, and everyone on the team knows he’s the final decision-maker.”
She added, “He is not going to stand by as they break the MOU, kill our soldiers and fire at our ships in the strait. So until that behavior changes, his behavior will not change… He’s locked and loaded to keep punishing Iran.”
Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told NBC that the Defense Department was “locked and loaded, ready to execute the president’s directives at a moment’s notice.”
“Secretary Hegseth, CENTCOM Commander Admiral Cooper, and Chairman Caine stand completely aligned and are united in mission, strategy, and resolve regarding overseas operations involving Iran,” Parnell said.
News of Trump’s NSFW rant last week was initially covered by the Wall Street Journal. Insiders told the publication that Trump reportedly went into meltdown mode, calling Iranian leaders “scumbags and lunatics” while peppering his claims with expletives.
Trump was blindsided this week by a “surprise attack” from Iran, days after he had temporarily paused his war on the country.
Trump said the U.S. had stopped bombing Iran last Friday because the regime “wanted to talk.” However, Iran’s foreign ministry denied that claim, saying they were not interested in direct negotiations.
On Wednesday, Trump returned to making threats to escalate the war with Iran.
“We are going to beat the f--king s--t out of them,” he is said to have told Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst.
“We’ll be hitting them hard,” the president continued. “They are going to get a beating.”
U.S. forces completed another “heavy wave of strikes” against Iran on Wednesday night, according to Central Command, who said over 50,000 American service members are currently deployed to the Middle East.
The latest strikes targeted military command centers, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defense sites, and maritime capabilities.
