President Donald Trump plans to retaliate against Iran after a ballistic missile attack on U.S. forces in the region was intercepted, telling Fox News on Wednesday that the U.S. will “beat the fucking shit out of them.”
The attack occurred overnight in Jordan, according to Iranian state media.
Trump said that the U.S. would be “hitting them hard. They’re going to get a beating.”
The White House declined to comment further, and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trending
The attack and pledge to respond came after Trump met on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the ongoing war against Iran. Though Netanyahu helped convince Trump to go to war with Iran in February and has sought continued aggression from U.S. forces, his relationship with the president had been under strain as it dragged on, increasing political pressure on Trump.
In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump called his sitdown with Netanyahu “a very good meeting.”
Iran said on Wednesday that the intercepted attack targeted an American military base in Jordan, after U.S.-Saudi joint forces struck Iranian-allied forces in Iraq. Jordan’s military said it intercepted five missiles.
The U.S.-Saudi forces struck Iran-backed “logistics and weapons sites,” according to U.S. Central Command, hitting the Popular Mobilization Forces. The PMF said at least 20 people were killed in the attack.
Although Trump has sought an exit from the war for some time, the overnight action marked an escalation with Saudi Arabia’s entry into the fighting. The U.S. conducted airstrikes against Iran last week but had seemingly paused the attacks after military leaders reportedly warned against escalating further.
There are growing concerns over the military’s depleted stockpile of advanced air defense missiles. Experts have estimated the remaining number of Patriot interceptors in the U.S. arsenal to be around 827, with only 278 THAAD ballistic missile interceptors remaining, according to a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies. But the president said last week in Georgia that Iran wasn’t ready for a peace deal.
“They want to make a deal, but I say they’re not ready to make a deal,” Trump said. “They’re not ready. They’ll be ready very soon.”
Author
