President Donald Trump is reportedly shielded from some of the negative impacts of his war in Iran, which critics say has ensconced him in a "cocoon of ignorance."
U.S. military officials compiled short video updates to show the 79-year-old president that focuses on "stuff blowing up" in the biggest, most successful strikes over the previous 48 hours, three current U.S. officials and a former U.S. official told NBC News.
But those briefings are creating a disconnect between his understanding of the war and reality, according to the report.
"Overall, the official said, the information Trump gets about the war tends to emphasize U.S. successes, with comparatively little detail about Iranian actions," the network reported, according to the sources.
"One example came this month when five U.S. Air Force refueling planes were hit in an Iranian strike at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, according to one of the current U.S. officials," the report added. "Trump wasn’t briefed about the strikes, and he learned what had happened from media reports, the official said. When Trump inquired, he was told the planes weren’t badly damaged, the official said."
Trump erupted angrily to the news coverage, according to the official, and he accused media outlets on Truth Social of wishing the U.S. "to lose the War." But some of his allies blame his frustration on the limited scope of information he's being provided. They worry that he may not be equipped to make crucial decisions on the war if he's not being shown a complete picture, said a former official and another source aware of those concerns.
"Since the war began Feb. 28, Trump has been both shaping and consuming a steady stream of news about it," NBC reported. "He has taken dozens of phone calls from journalists, explaining his positions and hinting at next steps. He maintains regular contact with foreign leaders, including holding near-daily conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and he has frequent discussions with leaders of Persian Gulf states, officials said."
"And he has publicly acknowledged seeking information independently," the report added.
However, some of that independent research has led Trump to consume misleading or AI-generated content that further distorts his understanding of the war.
"Last week Trump said that he called a top military general after he saw video of the USS Abraham Lincoln in flames and that the general told him Iran fabricated the video using artificial intelligence," NBC reported, and recounted Trump's summary of a conversation he had with a general about the U.S. Navy ship. "One of the U.S. officials said that the USS Abraham Lincoln has been targeted multiple times since the war began but that the strikes have either failed to reach the ship or have been intercepted."
Trump also claimed to have seen fabricated videos of burning buildings in Tel Aviv, although the Israeli city has suffered heavy damage from Iranian bombardment, and the reporting raised fresh concerns about the president's leadership and decision-making.
"Every day the Pentagon makes a video of cool explosions from Iran for the president of the United States to watch, so he can bounce up and down in his high chair, clap his little hands, and cry 'Yay! Make it go boom again!'" posted MS NOW's Paul Waldman.
"They are literally keeping Trump in a cocoon of ignorance in order to not upset him the same as you would do with any other elderly dementia patient," marveled Daniel Gilmore, a media studies and communications professor.
"'Last week Trump said that he called a top military general after he saw video of the USS Abraham Lincoln in flames and that the general told him Iran fabricated the video using artificial intelligence,'" said physics and astronomy professor Britt Lundgren, quoting from the report.
"Good job. We have a President who falls for AI propaganda first and asks questions later," added military historian Michael E. Carter.
"Things you could not waterboard out of me," cringed Vikram Bath, a software engineer and former business professor, screenshotting Trump's quotes about his media diet concerning the war.
"Those videos that they keep tweeting [out] about the war with real footage sliced with movies and video games aren’t for us they’re for Trump," quipped Bluesky user Hack Jarlow.