President Donald Trump subjected a room full of children, reporters and athletes to a graphic description of Iranian protesters being shot “between the eyes” during an Oval Office event on Tuesday. The president, flanked by several young guests, launched into a stark rant about the Iran war, repeating his key talking points in violent detail.
Trump told golfer Gary Player, with children standing nearby, that Iran would have had a nuclear weapon if not for a US B-2 bomber strike. “We blew up their nuclear potential. It was obliterated,” he said, adding that “Iran with a nuclear weapon… maybe we wouldn’t all be here right now.”
When a reporter asked whether the US should arm Iranian protesters, Trump described the brutal suppression of demonstrations. “They don’t have any guns… when they start shooting them right between the eyes, and you see a guy fall, and another one fall, and you have no guns,” he said, surrounded by children. He claimed 42,000 unarmed protesters were killed last month, and referenced the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, erroneously saying it occurred “last year.”
The president also recounted the US interception of a vessel near the Strait of Hormuz, which remains blockaded by US forces amid the ongoing conflict. Oil prices continue to rise, though the administration said it would begin escorting vessels through the strait.
Cabinet secretaries Linda McMahon, Pete Hegseth and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attended the event, with Kennedy launching into a discussion about Trump’s physical fitness test. Trump also ranted about transgender rights, telling the children, “I’ve never had one person say it’s important we allow women to be challenged by men in women’s sports.”
The bizarre scene unfolded as the US war with Iran enters its third month with no signs of renewed negotiations. Trump issued a scaled-down threat to Iran, saying, “We don’t want to go in and kill people, really don’t.”
