When President Donald Trump learned that two American pilots had gone missing in Iran on Good Friday, he “screamed at aides for hours” and was then “kept out of the room” while his team was given minute-by-minute updates, according to a report.
An F-15 fighter jet was shot down over Iran on April 3, prompting a high-stakes rescue mission for the missing airmen. One crew member was swiftly rescued by U.S. forces after ejecting before the aircraft went down - but the second crew member spent more than 24 hours behind enemy lines before he was safely extracted.
Back in Washington, D.C., Trump’s fears about how the war was playing out “were ramping up,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
“Trump screamed at aides for hours” after he was informed the fighter jet had been shot down and two airmen were missing, the outlet reported, citing a senior administration official. “Images of the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis — one of the biggest international policy failures of a presidency in recent times — had been looming large in his mind,” WSJ reported.
Over the next 24 hours, Trump’s most senior aides and administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, dialed into the Situation Room to receive updates.
Trump was not included in the meeting but was kept updated “at meaningful moments” on the phone, according to the WSJ, citing a senior administration official.
“Aides kept the president out of the room as they got minute-by-minute updates because they believed his impatience wouldn’t be helpful,” the official told the newspaper.
In a statement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told WSJ that Trump had “remained a steady leader our country needs.”
“President Trump campaigned proudly on his promise to deny the Iranian regime the ability to develop a nuclear weapon, which is what this noble operation accomplishes,” Leavitt said.
The Independent has contacted the White House for further comment.
After the first airman was recovered April 3, the U.S. was in a race against time to find the second crew member before the Iranians did.
More than 24 hours later, on the evening of April 4, the president was informed that the second airman had been rescued. A senior Trump administration official said at the time that the rescue was made possible by the support of the CIA, which alerted the Pentagon and the White House to the airman’s location.
“This was the ultimate ‘needle in a haystack’, but in this case it was a brave American soul inside a mountain crevice, invisible but for [the] CIA’s capabilities,” the official said.
The CIA reportedly engaged in a deception campaign, spreading false information that the airman had already been found and recovered.
Trump boasted about the mission’s success on Truth Social at around midnight and went to bed at 2 a.m., according to the WSJ.
“This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies, who were getting closer and closer by the hour,” he said.
The next morning, Trump ordered Iran to “open the F***in’ Strait, you crazy b*******, or you’ll be living in Hell,” in an expletive-laden post that ended with “Praise be to Allah.”
On April 7, Trump threatened that a “whole civilization will die tonight” unless Iran agreed to open the strait.
When an adviser asked the president about his unusual messages, Trump reportedly said he came up with the idea to praise Allah himself in a bid to seem off-kilter and offensive, a type of language he thought the Iranians would respond to, administration officials told the paper.
The comments prompted global alarm and caused concerned lawmakers to contact the White House to inquire about the president’s state of mind, according to the newspaper.
Iran war latest: Tehran threatens attacks and rejects talks after US seizes tanker
With no end in sight to their deployment, National Guard troops roam Washington
Under pressure Kash Patel claims FBI has ‘evidence’ that 2020 election was stolen
How daring US raid of Iranian tanker unfolded in Strait of Hormuz
The US has seized an Iranian cargo vessel – is this legal?
Is he or isn’t he? Trump officials flip-flop on whether Vance is leading Iran talks
