In an unusually blunt series of posts on Truth Social Tuesday, President Donald Trump escalated tensions with Iran by demanding its “unconditional surrender” and claiming “complete and total control of the skies over Iran.”
“We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran,” Trump wrote, boasting of American-made defense systems. “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.”
Trump’s post appears to merge U.S. and Israeli military successes. On Monday, the Israeli military announced that strikes had effectively neutralized Iran’s air defenses, enabling direct bombing runs over Tehran rather than relying on long-range missiles. By conflating Israeli operations with American capabilities, Trump underscored his broader view that modern warfare is driven by defense contracting and manufacturing prowess.
He then targeted Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in another Truth Social message: “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!”
While three U.S. officials told CBS News that Trump opposed an assassination attempt on Khamenei, recent Israeli reports suggest a closer alignment between Trump and Israel’s campaign strategy, alleging secret coordination behind the scenes.
Trump’s aggressive rhetoric comes despite intelligence assessments from his own administration indicating that Iran was not on the brink of developing a nuclear weapon, a point largely ignored in his calls for total domination of Iranian airspace.
The article was originally published on Politics Nigeria.
