President Donald Trump’s attacks against Iran have already led to hundreds of deaths. Despite those deadly consequences, he has been incapable of providing Americans and the world a clear reason for beginning this violence.
The Red Crescent, a nongovernmental humanitarian organization, has reported that more than 550 Iranian residents have been killed following strikes the U.S. carried out alongside Israel. U.S. Central Command, commonly known as CENTCOM, noted on Monday morning that a fourth U.S. service member was killed in action.
Since announcing his attacks on Saturday, Trump has been in a media frenzy, spinning the violence to multiple news outlets, many of which he has previously derided as “fake news” for accurately reporting on him. In those interviews, Trump has offered an array of reasons for the attack.
He told The Washington Post that “freedom” for Iran was his motivation for attacking, claiming, “All I want is freedom for the people.” Then in an interview with Axios, he said the reason for the attack was failed negotiations with Iran over their nuclear facilities, saying, “I can go long and take over the whole thing, or end it in two or three days.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, left, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine take questions during a press briefing at the Pentagon on March 2.
But Trump told The New York Times that the U.S. plans to continuously attack Iran for “four to five weeks” if necessary, and that it “won’t be difficult.” Speaking to ABC News, Trump justified the attack by referencing a purported 2024 plot by now-deceased Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei to kill Trump. “I got him before he got me,” Trump said. “They tried twice. Well, I got him first.”
Yet, in his press conference on Monday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said, “This is not a so-called 'regime-change war,' but the regime sure did change.” He also referenced the notion of halting Iran’s “nuclear ambitions,” which clashes with Trump’s claim last year that previous strikes had “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s facilities.
At the same time Trump and his senior leadership are failing to communicate why American forces are engaged in combat, there are already signs that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to American safety.
Pentagon officials reportedly briefed members of Congress and discussed Iran’s military arsenal, but two sources told Reuters that they offered no intelligence about a threat to American assets.
Before the attacks, the public was skeptical about striking Iran, and Trump has been underwater in his approval ratings on most issues. He has failed to stop discussion about his ties to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, and even members of his own party have been raising the alarm about weak economics and rising prices thanks to his illegal tariffs.
People are dying because of Trump’s actions in Iran, and he can’t—or won’t—say why.
