Conservative writer Charlie Sykes claimed in a new article that President Donald Trump has been so unnerved by the Iran scandal fueled by his own administration's claims that he can focus on nothing else.
So far, only one of 17 intelligence agencies released reports on the possible effects of last weekend's bombing, yet the Trump administration continues to call it a raging success. When the press has questioned exactly how Trump knows Iran's nuclear capabilities have been wiped out, the president has been going ballistic.
At Wednesday's NATO summit press conference at The Hague, Trump claimed The New York Times, CNN, and MSNBC were out to disparage him and the brave men and women who defend the country.
"Trumpian rage rants are, of course, routine," Sykes wrote. "But Playbook suggests that this time feels different. 'The president posted 21 times on Truth Social yesterday about the supposed success of his military strikes. And at yesterday’s NATO summit — a moment specifically designed by the Western world for Trump to bask in the glory of a huge defense spending boost — he spent most of his public appearances repeating his assertions on Iran.'”
Sykes turned to Politico's reporting to find the reasoning behind Trump's "latest indignant frenzy."
"Critics see a president spooked by a bombshell leak that has undermined his authority," wrote Politico's Jack Blanchard and Dasha Burns.
"Supporters say Trump is genuinely outraged by what he claims is false reporting and wants the record corrected. Either way — he’s using every tool in his arsenal to push back hard: Witness the hammer-like repetition that sites were 'obliterated'; the plentiful use of surrogates like Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio; the vindictive targeting of the journalists and media organizations involved; the barrage of statements from both U.S. and Israeli intelligence chiefs yesterday that the initial report was wrong," the report states.
On CNN Thursday, former Trump official Alyssa Farah Griffin warned that the administration was making matters worse by fighting over how successful the campaign was when the full scope of the strikes still wasn't in.