U.S. President Donald Trump didn’t mince words this past weekend, calling out NATO, China and the American news media as the war in the Middle East escalates.
Monday marks the 17th day of the war in Iran, beginning after the U.S. and Israel jointly struck targets on Feb. 28 as part of what U.S. officials called a response to the “imminent threat” of Iran’s nuclear operations. Thousands of targets have successfully been struck by U.S. and Israeli forces, including a strike in the campaign’s infancy that killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Sunday on X that “the military trajectory is relatively positive” as the U.S. “is steadily destroying Iran’s ability” to use drone and missile attacks. However, the ISW heeded patience as “the US-Israeli combined force will need time to achieve its military objectives and prevent Iran from inflicting further political and economic pain upon the United States and its allies in the region,” adding that it’s “too soon” to forecast an outcome or to declare operational failure.
The campaign has left some critics flummoxed due to mixed messaging and a lack of a clear objective conveyed to the American people. Trump, during a recent political rally in Kentucky, told the attendees that the U.S. already “won” the war. Meanwhile, global oil prices are steadily increasing amid the chokehold of cargo in the Strait of Hormuz—a channel that provides roughly 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas and has drastic economic implications for the U.S., China, Russia and Europe.
"If you think of war as an instrument of pursuing a policy, the war hasn't been going well for the U.S. and Israel," Sina Azodi, an assistant professor of Middle East politics at the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, told Military.com. "In terms of destruction and ability to overwhelm Iranian defenses, it has gone splendid."
But in terms of objectives, the U.S. has been unable to achieve its political objective because I think Donald Trump didn't know what the objectives are. And when you pay attention to the narrative of the administration, it's constantly changing.
The initial strikes were originally aimed to instill regime change in Iran, Azodi said, before altering in aims to curtail the nation's ballistic and nuclear missiles operations.
"Iran's nuclear sites have been targeted, but compared to Iran's military infrastructure and defense capacity, they're not even comparable," he said. "My view is that the White House was not expecting Iranians to be able to retaliate and escalate in a way that they have been doing."
The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, an independent conflict monitor, documented nearly 2,000 distinct strikes across at least 29 of Iran’s 31 provinces—the most taking place in Tehran. More than 2,300 casualties in the Middle East have occurred, according to Al-Jazeera, while the World Health Organization has said that at least 18 hospitals and health facilities have been hit.
The deadliest single incident was the strike on the elementary school on Minab in southeastern Iran, reportedly killing more than 170 people including mostly schoolgirls. U.S. officials have said that strike remains under investigation.
Strait of Hormuz Closure, NATO's 'Very Bad Future'
Trump took to Truth Social over the weekend to voice his thoughts on the United States’ efforts.
“The United States of America has beaten and completely decimated Iran, both Militarily, Economically, and in every other way, but the Countries of the World that receive Oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage, and we will help — A LOT!” Trump wrote on Sunday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday that the Strait of Hormuz “is open, but closed to our enemies, to those who carried out this cowardly aggression against us and to their allies,” according to Al-Jazeera.
Atlantic Council CEO Fred Kempe told CNBC on Monday morning that every day the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed “could add $3-$5 to a barrel of oil.”
“If this goes on for six weeks, you’re up at $150 a barrel…and if that’s the outcome, then that would be global recession territory,” Kempe said. “There’s a lot at stake here.”
Azodi told Military.com that the Strait of Hormuz shows the impact of geography during wartime, with Iran having more access and in his view has been preparing for this scenario dating back 20 years.
"In a way, I think Iranians have been more successful in pushing or kind of creating chaos," Azodi said, mentioning how gas prices have increased across the U.S. and midterm elections approach. "They don't have to expose the Strait of Hormuz for a very long time; all they have to do is to launch or shoot at a few tankers, then we are seeing an increase in the rate of rerouting of tankers."
While Trump said the U.S. would “coordinate with those Countries so that everything goes quickly, smoothly, and well,” he added that the military campaign “should have always been a team effort, and now it will be.”
Trump elaborated in remarks made Sunday to the Financial Times about the strait and its impact on the rest of the world, adding that reliance on Persian oil is higher for China and Europe than the U.S.
“If there’s no response or if it’s a negative response I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO,” Trump said, according to the Financial Times.
He added that while the U.S. is “hitting [Iran] very hard," allies of the U.S. “are beneficiaries and they ought to help us police it."
That included criticism towards Great Britain’s response of sending ships to the region well after the U.S. started its military campaign. After speaking with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump told the FT that while “the UK might be considered the number one ally,” he asked for their help and “they didn’t want to come.”
But it's not just the Brits, as Azodi pointed out. It's also been the Japanese and the Australians who have expressed apprehension about involved in the U.S.-Israel campaign.
"From their perspective, this is an unjustified war that the U.S. did not have to enter and they don't want to be part of it," Azodi said. "They also don't want to be a target of Iran's revenge."
Trump-Xi Meeting Could Be 'Delayed'
The backdrop of the Strait of Hormuz bottleneck is the meeting of Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which has economic implications beyond just what is occurring in the shipping channel.
The pair are slated to meet in less than three weeks’ time, though Trump told the Financial Times the U.S. “may delay” the summit if the situation involving the strait is not rectified.
That could also negate the already made efforts of U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who met Sunday with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Paris for the first of two days of trade discussions before the end-of-March summit is scheduled, according to Reuters.
News Agencies Threatened To Lose Licenses
Trump and his broader administration have also heavily scrutinized the press for its coverage of the war in Iran.
On Friday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the U.S. is “totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran, militarily, economically, and otherwise, yet, if you read the Failing New York Times, you would incorrectly think that we are not winning.”
The president has also accused Iran, which he described in a social media post “as a Master of Media Manipulation and Public Relations,” of “feeding” false information to the “Fake News Media.” The president insinuated that artificial intelligence is being used as a “disinformation weapon” to Iran’s benefit even as “they are being annihilated by the day.”
It prompted the president to say that media outlets engaging in so-called disinformation “should be brought up on Charges for TREASON.” Trump added that he’s “thrilled” Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr is considering taking away licensing.
In a March 14 post on X, Carr wrote: “Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions - also known as the fake news - have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up.”
The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.
Carr’s remarks are comparably antithetical to what he said in February 2019, when he wrote in a then-Twitter post: “Should the government censor speech it doesn’t like? Of course not. The FCC does not have a roving mandate to police speech in the name of the ‘public interest.’”
The nonpartisan Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), in an X post, characterized Carr’s latest remarks as an “authoritarian warning.”
“The American people demand uncensored news about the men and women serving in our armed forces. Our right to a free press is one of the core American freedoms those in uniform have sworn to support and defend. It is long past time for our government officials to remember their own oaths to uphold the Constitution — starting with the First Amendment,” FIRE wrote.
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) also broke from Carr’s position, saying it wasn’t the government’s role to police free speech.
“I’m a big supporter of the First Amendment, I do not like the heavy hand of government no matter who’s wielding it,” Johnson said in an interview on Fox News’ “The Sunday Briefing.” “So no, I’d rather the federal government stay out of the private sector as much as possible.”
Statements made by Trump and Carr followed what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during an Iran briefing at the Pentagon last week, telling the gathered media that he looks forward to CNN being controlled by billionaire David Ellison as his company, Paramount Skydance, awaits official ruling on its acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery.
“The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better,” he said.
