Trump Warns It’s About to Get a Whole Lot Worse in Iran

President Donald Trump is warning that “the big one” is still coming for Iran.

CNN’s Jake Tapper on Monday recounted a nine-minute phone call with Trump, including a chilling message from the president for the people of Iran.

“Right now we want everyone staying inside, it’s not safe out there,” Tapper quoted Trump as saying. “And then the president said, ‘It’s about to get even less safe.’”

“We haven’t even started hitting them hard. The big wave hasn’t even happened. The big one is coming soon,” Tapper quoted Trump as saying.

Trump’s statement indicates that he intends to escalate the conflict, not de-escalate, and suggests he intends to do so without congressional authorization, let alone any semblance of popular support.

Tapper’s reporting comes as U.S. officials announced that their illegal war in Iran was only in its nascent stage, having already claimed the lives of more than 550 people, including dozens of school-age girls.

U.S. Central Command confirmed Monday that a fourth U.S. service member died due to injuries sustained in the operation. In a prerecorded video posted Sunday about three U.S. soldiers killed in the attack, Trump said, “Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends. That’s the way it is.”

Speaking to Tapper, Trump reportedly posed yet another made-up timeline for the military campaign: four weeks. But the U.S. was already ahead of schedule, he claimed.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth bragged Monday that the United States and Israel would not be bound by the rules of engagement, and did not comment on how long the campaign would last.