Donald Trump has threatened to hit Iran “hard” after the US and Iran exchanged fire for the first time in a month, warning that “there will be a response” following Iranian missile strikes on US military bases. Iran launched its strikes targeting US military bases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates following US attacks on Larak Island, the first American strikes on the Islamic Republic since late July. Despite the renewed hostilities, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian has emphasised that Tehran is still seeking a negotiated solution to its conflict with the US.
Trump also warned earlier that the American military may still “smack” Iran despite it being a “failed nation”. Meanwhile, the US president posted an AI-generated video of Kharg Island being “blown to smithereens.” A US official told that no such attack had taken place on Kharg Island. US Central Command said that “limited, precise action” had been launched “against IRGC minelaying forces”.
Hamid Bovard, the chief executive of government-run National Iranian Oil Co, insisted oil operations had not stopped on the island and called Trump’s post on Truth Social “laughable”. Oil prices rose on Tuesday as renewed fighting between the US and Iran heightened fears of disruptions to crude supplies from the oil-rich Middle East. Brent crude futures gained 56 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $91.05 a barrel by 0044 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 83 cents, or 1 per cent, to $86.59 a barrel.
JD Vance has said the US military is “big enough” to handle threats, despite reports of munitions shortages. Military big enough to handle threats around the world, including China?” Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson asked the US vice president in a new interview. A handful of high-profile conservative influencers have reportedly been working as undisclosed government employees and using their huge social media followings to praise US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and defend the Trump administration’s policies.
Among them are Rob Maness, a retired Army Air Force colonel with more than 130,000 followers on X, and Kurt Schlichter, a retired Army colonel with more than 600,000 followers on X, according to the Washington Post. Maness and Schlichter have active government email addresses ending in “.civ” – meaning they are civilian employees – and are assigned to the Defense Department’s undersecretary for personnel and readiness, sources told the Post. Yet neither influencer has disclosed that they are working for, or did work for, the Pentagon, the Post reported.
Even while they were advocating for Hegseth to fire critics at the department, backing Trump’s military actions in Venezuela and defending the Defense Secretary’s spending on a luxury dinner. Donald Trump has threatened to “hit them hard” after the US and Iran exchanged fire for the first time in a month, warning that “there will be a response” following Iranian missile strikes on US military bases in Jordan. He called Iran “officially a failed nation without an airforce, a navy or a currency”.
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