Trump boasts ‘a lot’ of military defections in Iran: ‘I don’t blame them’

Published March 19, 2026 1:31pm ET



President Donald Trump bragged that the military might of the United States against Iran had led to members of the Middle Eastern nation’s military abandoning it during a Thursday bilateral in the Oval Office.

“There’s a lot of military defections. You have a lot of military defections in Iran,” Trump said while seated next to the visiting Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. “I don’t blame them.”

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