Donald Trump speaking on July 16, 2015 (Michael Vadon/Flickr)
President Donald Trump tried to project strength against Iran's military -- but he opened himself up to mockery when he seemed to suggest that the Iranians were deploying flying boats.
"I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea," the president wrote.
Typically, however, you can only "shoot down" things that are up in the air, such as airplanes or aerial drones.
Given this, Trump was swiftly mocked for his nonsensical military strategy -- check out some reactions below.
@realDonaldTrump Weird, I thought the Navy fires captains who try protect their ship's crew?— Paul 👻 (@Paul 👻)1587557544.0
These must be flying gunboats? Very devious. https://t.co/P2ky8j5csA— Josh Marshall (@Josh Marshall)1587557599.0
Shoot those boats out of the sky https://t.co/KcYo1GnWWp— southpaw (@southpaw)1587557653.0
Seems our stable military genius @realDonaldTrump is unaware that you shoot down things that fly, not things that f… https://t.co/YGjIwmoSC2— Moe Davis (@Moe Davis)1587558062.0
Flying gunboats! https://t.co/X3a40wAmZU— Eric Muller (@Eric Muller)1587557603.0
@realDonaldTrump Shoot down the boats— Soviet Sergey (@Soviet Sergey)1587557309.0
@realDonaldTrump We have enough to worry about at home without Trump's inept leadership provoking a war, too.— St. Nick Jack Pappas (@St. Nick Jack Pappas)1587557579.0
@MatthewJshow @realDonaldTrump Shoot down boats....dementia on display— Robert J Reynolds (@Robert J Reynolds)1587557472.0
@realDonaldTrump Iran has flying boats? I thought you said our military had the best equipment...— Decent Trial Lawyer (@Decent Trial Lawyer)1587557409.0
@realDonaldTrump WAG THE DOG: (phrase) An obvious attempt to distract attention away from one's own domestic failur… https://t.co/YnfpGIzlUU— Translate Trump (@Translate Trump)1587557538.0
