‘I can't bear to hear Trump talk about the success of first hour of the Iran war’
Donald Trump claims the US ‘won’ the Iran War in just one hour of strikes – during which time 165 people were killed at a girls’ school. Will America keep buying his narrative of events?
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What’s the story?
"In the first hour it was over".
Donald Trump says the war in Iran is already won, as bombs continue to fall across the Middle East, sparked by the joint invasion staged by the US and Israel.
The US president's claim of a one-hour victory, made this week during a rally in Hebron, Kentucky, was likely a reference to the killing of Iran's former supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
But war wages on, and Ali Khamenei's son, Mojtaba Khamenei, replaced his father a week after his death.
The Hebron visit was to speak to MAGA supporters about his work to "make America affordable again".
Emily Maitlis says it was an attempt, from his administration, to get him back onto script.
"They are trying to get him to talk about cost of living, affordability and the work he's doing for ordinary American families," she says.
"What he does is he comes in sounding like he's head of the World Wrestling foundation."
During the speech he claimed "victory" in Iran, despite saying no president wants to do that in a war, and claiming America ‘won’ within an hour.
Emily says he “clearly does” want to claim that so-called victory.
"It just sounds so hollow," she adds.
"It sounds so mad, because he has, to all intents and purposes, lost control of the war completely."
What else happened in that 'first hour'?
Ali Khamenei was not the only casualty of the 'first hour' of American strikes on Iran.
Evidence suggests a US bomb also killed 165 people, mostly children, at a girls school in Minab, Iran.
"I actually can't bear to hear him talk about the success of the first hour of war," Emily says.
"We now know that within that first hour, that first Saturday morning of the attacks, between 140 and 160 Iranian school girls were killed by an American Tomahawk missile.
"Now, if that's what he thinks of a success, I am speechless, frankly."
Trump originally claimed Iran was responsible for the deadly strike.
“Based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran,” the president said when first questioned on the mass killing.
“We think it was done by Iran – because they are very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions.
"They have no accuracy whatsoever. It was done by Iran.”
Trump has since said he doesn't know enough about the situation to comment.
Will Trump rallies continue to work with his MAGA supporters?
Trump fans are loyal, but how long will they continue to buy his lies – especially when they are the ones paying for US military action in Iran?
America spent an estimated $11.3 billion on its Iran invasion during the first week of war, but striking the country with such ferocity has resulted in oil prices soaring across the world.
"The first hour of that war was unbelievably successful in decapitating the Iranian leadership – but the regime is still in place," says Jon Sopel.
"The regime is still capable of closing the Straits of Hormuz, which will have a devastating effect on the world economy."
Jon adds that instead of telling the people of Hebron how well the US economy was doing, he instead bragged about huge military expenditures that they will ultimately pay for.
"People are going to have to pay much more when they go and fill up their car with gas at the petrol station, and the cost of food is going to go up as a result of this," he says.
What else did we learn from Trump's 'hollow' speech?
Trump also used his appearance in Hebron to criticise politician Thomas Massie – one of the two Republican representatives who worked against his wishes to get the Epstein Files made public.
The News Agents have previously discussed theories that war in Iran was an attempt to distract the world from 38,000 mentions of Donald Trump in the files – and Emily says this is still the president's number one focus right now.
"You don't have to work very hard to know what is really on Trump's mind, because he tells you," she says.
"He goes all the way to Hebron, Kentucky to talk about the war, but what is he actually thinking about? He's thinking about how much he dislikes Thomas Massie because he never really wanted to release the Epstein Files."