He has both threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s #energy plants if the vital waterway remains largely shuttered & said the #US was “not affected” by the closure.

At one point this month, #Trump said one of his predecessors—who, he strongly suggested, was a Democrat—privately told him he wished he had taken similar action against #Iran. Reps for every living former president quickly denied that such a conversation happened.

#FactCheck #TrumpLies #TrumpsWar #propaganda #law #WarPowers #geopolitics

As the war entered its second month on Saturday, Trump’s penchant for embellishments, exaggerations & falsehoods is being tested in an environment where the stakes are much higher than an isolated political fight.

#FactCheck #TrumpLies #IranWar #TrumpsWar #propaganda #US #Iran #war #ForeverWars #Trump #RulesOfWar #law #geopolitics #MiddleEast #economy #oil #energy #EnergyCrisis

#LeonPanetta, who served Democratic presidents as defense secy, CIA director and White House chief of staff, said he has “seen enough wars where truth becomes the first casualty.”

“It’s not the first administration that has not told the truth about #war. But the president has made it kind of a very standard approach to almost any question to in one way or another kind of #lie about what’s really happening & basically describe everything as fine & that we’re winning the #war,” he said.

#Trump

Michael Rubin, a historian at the American Enterprise Institute who worked as a staff adviser on #Iran & #Iraq at the #Pentagon from 2002 to 2004, said #Trump is “the first president of any party in recent history that hasn’t self-constrained to live within rhetorical boundaries.” [what a nice way of saying #TrumpLies]

“So of course it creates a great deal of confusion,” he said.

#IranWar #TrumpsWar #propaganda #US #Iran #war #RulesOfWar #law #Congress #WarPowers #geopolitics #MiddleEast