https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cre0vl84qy9t

Trump: Iran are lousy fighters, but great negotiators

published at 08:51

Trump says that since 28 February, when the war began, the US has been hitting Iran’s military capability “at a level that few people have ever seen before”.

He says the US has wiped out Iran’s navy and air force “completely” and knocked out “close to 90%” of Iran’s missile launchers, and “probably more than 90%” of the missiles themselves.

Trump continues, saying Iran is begging to make a deal. “They’re great negotiators,” he says. “Lousy fighters, but great negotiators.”

As a reminder: The US has said for days that it’s holding talks on ending the war with Iran, but Tehran has denied these talks are talking place.

  • happybadger [he/him]@hexbear.netOPEnglish
    26·
    8 days ago

    I really hope historians manage to capture the absurdity of this war. There’s that other recap of his 20 March press conference which rings in my head like a church bell:

    Friday’s press gaggle. Barely exaggerated: at 12:03 PM, President Trump told reporters he wanted a ceasefire with Iran. At 12:05 he declared victory. At 12:07 he announced he was sending Marines. At 12:08 he said no boots on the ground. At 12:11 he said he did not want a ceasefire. At 12:16 he declared victory again. At 12:17 he asked for a ceasefire. At 12:23 he told NATO they were cowards. At 12:29 he said Iran was begging for a ceasefire. At 12:31 he said everything was perfect. At 12:36 he said $500 oil was a good thing. At 12:37 he demanded Iran open Hormuz. At 12:39 he said Hormuz was never closed. At 12:41 he said the US was not at war with Iran. At 12:42 he declared victory in Iran.

    By 3:43 PM he told CBS he doesn’t want a ceasefire. By 5:13 PM - 13 minutes after futures markets closed for the weekend, in a coincidence that should be studied in every securities fraud textbook - he posted on Truth Social that the US is “getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts”. The S&P reversed more than 1% in seconds. QQQ had already surged 1.1% in the 80 minutes before the announcement, with call options flowing in at a pace that suggests someone, somewhere, had an itinerary.

    Imagine someone doing that in a conversation with you. That kind of emotional whiplash is so wild that I can’t even follow it beyond the insider trading.