A MERE ‘TRIFLE,’ A ‘LOVE TAP’: There was a time when, if enemy forces attacked U.S. warships with missiles, drones and fast attack boats in a war zone, it would not be considered consistent with a ceasefire. That time is not now, apparently.
“Iranian forces launched multiple missiles, drones and small boats as USS Truxtun, USS Rafael Peralta, and USS Mason transited the international sea passage,” the U.S. Central Command said in a statement. “U.S. forces intercepted unprovoked Iranian attacks and responded with self-defense strikes.”
Recommended Stories
No U.S. ships were hit in the confrontation, and the U.S. responded by striking “Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking U.S. forces, including missile and drone launch sites; command and control locations; and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance nodes,” CENTCOM said.
President Donald Trump, anxious to keep the nominal ceasefire in place dismissed the Iranian attacks — aimed at sinking U.S. ships and killing U.S. sailors — as “just a love tap,” to Rachel Scott of ABC news. And speaking to reporters as he inspected renovations to the Reflecting Pool, Trump called the clash a “trifle.”
“They trifled with us today. We blew ’em away. They trifled. I call that a trifle,” Trump said. “They shot missiles. Every missile was knocked down. Every drone was knocked down, and the people that shot it are no longer with us,” Trump said. “They should not have done that today. We thought they might. We didn’t know, but we were prepared.”
But the ceasefire, Trump said, is still in effect. “I’ll let you know when there’s no ceasefire. You won’t have to know if there’s no ceasefire. You’re not going to have to know. You’re just going to have to look at one big glow coming out of Iran,” he said, “And they’d better sign their agreement fast.”
TRUMP SAYS WORLD WILL SEE ‘ONE BIG GLOW’ FROM IRAN IF DEAL NOT REACHED
MORE THAN ONE PAGE: Even though Iran has yet to respond formally to Trump’s proposed memorandum of understanding, which would reopen the strait and end the U.S. blockade, Trump says “the talks are going very well,” even as he can’t say who he’s talking to.
“We’re dealing with different sets of leaders,” Trump said, while in the next breath complaining that while “they” have agreed to many things, “when they agree, it doesn’t mean much because the next day they forgot they agreed.”
Nevertheless, Trump continues to predict a deal is imminent. “It could happen any day, and it might not happen, but it could happen any day,” Trump said, while disputing his proposal is a single-page document.
“It’s more than a one-page offer. It’s an offer that basically said they will not have nuclear weapons. They’re going to hand us the nuclear dust and many other things that we want,” he said. “They have to understand if it doesn’t get signed, they’re going to have a lot of pain. They’re going to have a lot of pain. They want to sign it. I will tell you they want to sign it a lot more than I do.”
In a post on Truth Social, Trump waxed rhapsodic about yesterday’s shootout in the Gulf, “Drones came, and were incinerated while in the air. They dropped ever so beautifully down to the Ocean, very much like a butterfly dropping to its grave!”
“A normal Country would have allowed these Destroyers to pass, but Iran is not a normal Country,” Trump said, warning “just like we knocked them out again today, we’ll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don’t get their Deal signed, FAST!”
TRUMP VOWS TO HIT IRAN ‘MORE VIOLENTLY’ IF DEAL NOT STRUCK AFTER STRAIT OF HORMUZ ATTACK
‘BOMBING AND BOMBAST AND BLUSTER’: Democrats and even some Republicans are accusing Trump of making overly optimistic predictions while signalling weakness by seeming so anxious to get a deal, quickly.
“He has made a fundamental miscalculation that bombing alone would accomplish his objectives,” Sen. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said on CNN yesterday. “Securing the enriched uranium, changing the regime, destroying the missile production capacity, halting the terrorist attacks — none has been achieved because bombing and bombast and bluster are not capable of doing it.”
“The president is under pressure because he’s going to China on March 14 and he wants some progress before then,” Blumenthal said. “But what we’re more likely to see as a result of this exchange of papers is simply an agreement to try to seek an agreement.”
“He started out … with this declaration, that Iran was going to have to unconditionally surrender,” Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), a longtime Trump antagonist, said on MS NOW. “And yet the president orders ships to escort other vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, and we get fired upon. And the president says, no worries. That doesn’t upset the ceasefire. Just pretend it didn’t happen.”
“Trump is in danger of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory with a deal that would give the battered Iranian regime a new lease on life,” writes conservative columnist and former speechwriter Marc Thiessen, in an opinion piece published today. “Trump says he holds all the cards, but Tehran disagrees.”
“Americans want to win. The only thing they like less than war and high gas prices is enduring them for nothing,” Thiessen writes. “But to deliver that victory, President Trump needs to show the Iranian regime that it doesn’t have the leverage it thinks it does. And he can’t negotiate a deal that lets the regime off the mat. If he does, he will squander the opportunity to secure one of the greatest national security achievements of any modern president.”
Good Friday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre). Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP OR READ BACK ISSUES OF DAILY ON DEFENSE
HOW LONG CAN IRAN HOLD OUT? President Trump is operating on the assumption that Iran’s energy infrastructure will be permanently damaged if it can’t export its oil because of the U.S. blockade, and that it oil wells will literally explode in the coming days, as Iran runs out of space to store its oil.
But a “confidential CIA analysis delivered to administration policymakers this week concludes that Iran can survive the U.S. naval blockade for at least three to four months,” according to a report in the Washington Post.
The report, which the Washington Post said was described to it by four people familiar with its contents, also says Iran retains about 75% of its mobile missile launchers and about 70% prewar invetory of missiles, contradicting Trump’s public comments Wednesday, in which he said Iran’s missiles had been “mostly decimated,” and that only 18%-19% remained.
“There is evidence that the regime has been able to recover and reopen almost all of its underground storage facilities, repair some damaged missiles and even assemble some new missiles that were nearly complete when the war began,” a U.S. official told the newspaper.
“The U.S. intelligence agencies have said what we really all knew, but their saying it is important, that Iran can essentially outlast the U.S. blockade in the region,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said on MS NOW. “That’s bad news for Trump’s entire strategy, his entire strategy has somehow depended on them not being able to survive this blockade.”
WHITE HOUSE DISPUTES GULF COUNTRIES’ RESTRICTIONS LED TO PAUSE OF PROJECT FREEDOM
THE RUNDOWN:
Washington Examiner: Trump says world will see ‘one big glow’ from Iran if deal not reached
Washington Examiner: Trump vows to hit Iran ‘more violently’ if deal not struck after Strait of Hormuz attack
Washington Examiner: White House disputes Gulf countries’ restrictions led to pause of Project Freedom
Washington Examiner: US troops disable vessel attempting to break Iranian blockade
Washington Examiner: Federal court blocks Trump’s 10% global tariffs levied after Supreme Court loss
Washington Examiner: Rubio affirms ‘enduring partnership’ with Holy See as he meets with Pope Leo XIV
Washington Examiner: Opinion: Germany and Japan are rearming. Trump deserves credit
Washington Examiner: Hey America, what part of ‘We’re winning,’ don’t you get?
Washington Post: U.S. intelligence says Iran can outlast Trump’s Hormuz blockade for months
ABC News: Trump calls Iran strikes a ‘love tap,’ says ceasefire still in effect
Reuters: US-proposed Iran resolution at UN faces likely vetoes from China, Russia
Washington Post: Iranian oil still flows ship to ship an ocean away
AP: US Isn’t Looking at Imminent Military Action in Cuba Despite Trump Threats, AP Sources Say
The Hill: Poland Ready to Host US Troops Pulled from Germany, President Says
Air & Space Forces Magazine: SOF Insider Trading Case Spotlights Troops and Prediction Markets
Aviation Week: New Heavy Bomber Study Appears in US Air Force Spending Plans
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Opinion: Iran Campaign Demonstrates Need for More B-21s
CBS News: America’s Aging Minuteman III Nuclear Missiles Are Getting Replaced. We Got an Inside Look.
Defense News: Pentagon Turns to AI Targeting to Help Troops Shoot Drones
DefenseScoop: Amid Concerns Sparked by Mythos, the Pentagon’s Cyber Policy Chief Sees ‘Huge Opportunity’ with Frontier AI Models
Defense One: With Launches Slated to Grow a Hundredfold, Space Force Seeks More Sites, Money, People, and AI
Defense One: Cyberattacks Are Now Part of US Counterterrorism Strategy
Task & Purpose: Air Force Cargo Hub Stored Weapons in Unguarded Building, IG Finds
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Plans to Ditch BACN Jets for Satellite Communications
Military.com: CMSAF Wolfe: Air Force Rethinking Training Model
Washington Post: Opinion: Trump risks snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in Iran
THE CALENDAR:
FRIDAY | MAY 8
8:30 a.m. 11493 Sunset Hills Road, Reston, Va. — Government Executive Media Group forum: “Guiding the Golden Dome: Architecture, Acquisition, and the Future of Integrated Missile Defense, with John Plumb, head of strategy for K2 Space, former assistant Secretary of Defense for space policy https://events.govexec.com/guiding-the-golden-dome/
10 a.m. — National Institute for Deterrence Studies virtual seminar: “Organizing for Deterrence and Urgency,” with Drew Walter, Acting principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear deterrence, chemical, and biological defense, policy and programs https://thinkdeterrence.com/events/organizing-for-deterrence-and-urgency-with-drew-walter/
TUESDAY | MAY 12
8 a.m. 2359 Rayburn — House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing: “Budget Hearing – The Department of Defense,” with testimony from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Air Force Gen. Dan Caine http://appropriations.house.gov
10:30 a.m. 192 Dirksen — Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing: “A Review of the President’s FY2027 Budget Request for the Department of Defense,” with testimony from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Air Force Gen. Dan Caine http://appropriations.senate.gov
1:30 p.m. — Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies Schriever Spacepower Series with Gen Stephen Whiting, commander, U.S. Space Command https://afa-org.zoom.us/webinar/register
2 p.m. H-140, U.S. Capitol — House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing: “Budget Hearing – The United States Navy and Marine Corps,” with testimony from Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle, and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith http://appropriations.house.gov
WEDNESDAY | MAY 13
3:30 p.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee hearing: “Department of the Air Force FY2027 Budget Request for Seapower and Projection Forces,” with testimony from William Bailey, performing the temporary duties of assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology, and logistics; Lt. Gen. David Tabor, deputy Air Force chief of staff for plans and programs http://www.armedservices.house
THURSDAY | MAY 14
10 a.m. G-50 Dirksen — Senate Armed Services Committee hearing: “The posture of the U.S. Central Command and U.S. Africa Command in review of the Defense Authorization Request for FY2027 and the Future Years Defense Program,” with testimony from Adm. Brad Cooper, commander, U.S. Central Command; and Air Force Gen. Dagvin Anderson, commander, U.S. Africa Command http://www.armed-services.senate.gov
10 a.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Committee hearing: “Department of the Navy FY2027 Budget Request,” with testimony from Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao; Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle, and Marine Corps Commandant General Eric Smith, http://www.armedservices.house.gov
WEDNESDAY | MAY 20
2:30 p.m. 222 Russell — Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee hearing; “Defense Department personnel policies and programs in review of the Defense Authorization Request for FY2027 and the Future Years Defense Program. http://www.armed-services.senate.gov
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “If you were in Iran’s shoes, what would you think? You would perceive weakness. You would conclude that Trump’s threats were bluster and that he is unwilling to resume the bombing campaign. You would decide that Trump is feeling political pressure from high gas prices, that the U.S. blockade of Iran in the strait is backfiring on him and that it is only a matter of time before he is forced to end that too. You would think that your ability to threaten the oil infrastructure of America’s Persian Gulf allies is not only successfully deterring Trump from striking you again but also preventing him from taking away your control of the strait. You would think that you, not Trump, have the cards.” Conservative columnist and former speechwriter Marc Thiessen, in an essay published in the Washington Post.
