While the United States paused strikes against Iran this weekend, President Donald Trump let loose on social media with artificial intelligence-created images depicting explosions in Iran or on ships labeled with that country’s name.
The U.S. halted airstrikes Friday after 13 consecutive days of attacks as news reports raised alarms about depleted stockpiles of American missiles and Trump suggested a possible diplomatic solution.
Trump said negotiations with Iran were ongoing, telling reporters in the White House on Friday that he thought the country’s leaders were “being by far the most serious that we’ve seen them” but that they might not be ready to make a deal.
“It’s giving diplomacy some space,” U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “It’s giving diplomacy a little bit of time.”
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Trump, who visited his Sterling, Virginia, golf course on Sunday, posted a series of AI-generated images to Truth Social about the conflict.
One image depicts Trump standing behind a B-2 Spirit, one of the aircraft that has been used in the strikes, labeled “U.S.A.,” with explosions over land labeled “Iran.” The text on top of the image reads, “Guardian of the World.”
A different image depicts Trump at the helm of a naval ship flanked by military members; Trump is wearing a red hat with the letters FAFO — which stand for “fuck around and find out.”
Another image appears to depict Trump onboard an Iranian oil tanker while holding the American flag, with armed service members standing behind him and men with turbans jumping off the ship. “It’s Our Oil Tanker Now!” the image’s caption reads.
Speculation over depleted weapons stockpiles has continued to grow since, according to The Wall Street Journal reporting, Trump called senior Pentagon officials and the top military contractors to the White House in June amid munitions supply concerns
Stockpiles of Tomahawk, THAAD and Patriot missiles, all of which have been used in the war with Iran, could take three to five years to replace, according to a report published in May by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Trump has said the U.S. is “locked and loaded” for more strikes on Iran, while Waltz downplayed concerns over depleted munitions inventory.
“The U.S. military, and I’ve verified this every which way, has everything that it needs to conduct this campaign as effectively as it needs to be,” Waltz said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “And I have to just tell you, the people that are leaking this nonsense deserve to be in jail.”
Waltz blamed any depleted inventories on President Joe Biden’s handling of the war in Ukraine and the ongoing fight with Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels — though he acknowledged that the Trump administration is actively exploring cheaper munitions options. Defense contractor Lockheed Martin announced plans last week to build a new version of the Patriot missile for half of the current $3.7 million cost.
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