Trump Blocked From Iran War Plans After Screaming at Aides for Hours

Donald Trump’s erratic behavior has gotten him exiled from critical peace negotiations with Iran.

The president was removed from such talks by his own aides last month, who feared that his unpredictable style could hamper the discussions, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

The decision was informed by the president’s behavior during the search and rescue operation for the aircrew of the downed F-35 fighter jet late last month, when the president reportedly screamed at his aides for hours. As a result, his aides “kept the president out of the room as they got minute-by-minute updates because they believed his impatience wouldn’t be helpful, instead updating him at meaningful moments,” a senior administration official told the Journal.

Shortly after the second airman was recovered, the president was back to beating his chest. In a rapid-fire series of hair-raising Truth Social posts on Easter morning, Trump pledged he would completely annihilate Iranian civilization within a couple of days. He was reportedly under the impression that appearing unstable would spur Tehran to negotiate, according to the Journal.

But it wasn’t the first time during the sustained military offensive that Trump’s entourage decided the president would be best kept out of the action.

Around the same time, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles forced a meeting of Trump’s most trusted advisers. The problem: No one was being honest with the president about the domestic impact of the war.

Privately, Wiles had expressed fears that the inner circle’s rose-tinted retelling of the conflict would leave Trump oblivious to the political reality of the war, just months ahead of a contentious midterm season, reported Time magazine earlier this month.

Up until that point, Trump had been spoon-fed daily video compilations of various battlefield successes, a senior administration official told the publication. Trump was under the impression that stripping nuclear capabilities from Iran could be one of his greatest legacies as America’s 47th president.

The current conflict has gone on for more than seven weeks, surpassing the administration’s six-week deadline. In that timespan, the U.S. has lost access to a critical oil tradeway in the Middle East, tanked global oil markets, spiked the cost of living for people around the world, and agitated international relations—particularly between the U.S. and longtime allies in the Western hemisphere. It has also cost American taxpayers over $50 billion, and sparked a political rejection of MAGA ideology across the U.S.

The war has killed more than 3,375 people in Iran, state media reported Monday, and more than 2,290 people in Lebanon. It has also claimed the lives of 13 U.S. service members throughout the region.