- President Donald Trump furiously fired off a handful of tweets Tuesday morning after Iranian leadership described the White House as “mentally handicapped” in a dismissive response to the latest round of sanctions.
- “Iran’s very ignorant and insulting statement, put out today, only shows that they do not understand reality,” Trump said on Twitter.
- In his latest tweets, he suggested that should Iran attack “anything American,” possibly even an unmanned aerial vehicle, his administration would respond with “great and overwhelming force,” a position that makes conflict more likely.
- Visit INSIDER’s homepage for more stories.
President Donald Trump furiously fired off a handful of tweets Tuesday morning after Iranian leadership described the White House as “mentally handicapped” in a dismissive response to the latest round of sanctions.
“Iran leadership doesn’t understand the words ‘nice’ or ‘compassion,’ they never have,” the president tweeted. “Sadly, the thing they do understand is Strength and Power, and the USA is by far the most powerful Military Force in the world.”
“Iran’s very ignorant and insulting statement, put out today, only shows that they do not understand reality,” Trump said. “Any attack by Iran on anything American will be met with great and overwhelming force. In some areas, overwhelming will mean obliteration.”
Iran leadership doesn’t understand the words “nice” or “compassion,” they never have. Sadly, the thing they do understand is Strength and Power, and the USA is by far the most powerful Military Force in the world, with 1.5 Trillion Dollars invested over the last two years alone..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 25, 2019
....The wonderful Iranian people are suffering, and for no reason at all. Their leadership spends all of its money on Terror, and little on anything else. The U.S. has not forgotten Iran’s use of IED’s & EFP’s (bombs), which killed 2000 Americans, and wounded many more...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 25, 2019
....Iran’s very ignorant and insulting statement, put out today, only shows that they do not understand reality. Any attack by Iran on anything American will be met with great and overwhelming force. In some areas, overwhelming will mean obliteration. No more John Kerry & Obama!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 25, 2019
The president's tweets follow a statement by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who dismissed the latest sanctions as evidence of US desperation. "The White House actions mean it is mentally handicapped," he said, adding that "Tehran's strategic patience does not mean we have fear."
Last week, following a string of attacks on tankers the US believes were carried out by Iranian forces, the Iranian military shot down a US Navy drone.
In the aftermath, the Trump administration was, according to the president, "cocked and loaded" to retaliate with strikes, but Trump called off the attack at the last minute, arguing that taking life, as was expected to happen, in response to an attack on an unmanned platform would have been disproportionate.
Instead, his administration opted for cyberattacks and more sanctions, which have been battering Iran's economy.
His latest tweets suggested that should Iran attack anything American, possibly even an unmanned aerial vehicle, his administration would respond with "great and overwhelming force," a position that makes conflict more likely in this standoff with Tehran.
Update: This post was updated to include a better translation of Rouhani's statement about the Trump White House being "mentally handicapped."
