On Saturday, Donald Trump tweeted a dire warning about Iran test-firing a missile, and proclaiming that the country was “working with North Korea,” whatever that means. The tweet was easy to overlook, since it was part of a litany of unhinged rants about Obamacare, Alabama’s special election, a basketball player, the National Football League, and his idea of patriotism.
Iran just test-fired a Ballistic Missile capable of reaching Israel.They are also working with North Korea.Not much of an agreement we have!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2017
Literally 21 minutes later, Trump was back to talking about repealing healthcare for millions of Americans and calling John McCain a coward, and 5 minutes after that, Trump was back to the NFL. Like I said, I don’t blame you if you missed it.
Thankfully, the tweet is still there. That could come in handy, should anyone decide to do anything about the fact that he was either lying or a complete moron. Or even more disturbingly, that the President of the United States is using fake video to start a war with Iran. Or perhaps Donald Trump simply didn’t recognize the exact same footage that he put Iran “on notice” for at the beginning of February:
Iran has been formally PUT ON NOTICE for firing a ballistic missile.Should have been thankful for the terrible deal the U.S. made with them!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2017
Fox News, the President’s very favorite for of media, is now reporting that the “missile launch” that Trump was referring to on Saturday was in fact video from a launch in January. There was no missile fired on Saturday — Iranian media was simply showing what the missile they included in a parade that day was capable of.
Conducting international affairs via social media is nothing new for Donald Trump. It was scarcely hours before he had casually threatened North Korea with total nuclear annihilation via Twitter. By tomorrow, the US may find itself embroiled in World War Three if someone doesn’t take that idiot’s cell phone away from him.
Sadly, nothing would make Trump happier than a new conflict, since wartime presidents are far more popular and important than those who govern peacefully over periods of expansion and global goodwill.
That’s what war would mean to Donald Trump: Ratings.
Featured image via Majid/Getty Images
