The Fog of Trump

There still are a few  people who believe what Trump tells them:

There’s this:

The Pentagon is taking a “shameful approach” to releasing information about US casualties in the Iran war, Leon Panetta, a former defense secretary and CIA director, has told the Guardian.

The defence department has not held a press briefing for two and a half months. Officials have faced accusations that they are engaged in a cover-up designed to hide the true cost of Donald Trump’s war of choice in Iran, fearing a public backlash before November’s midterm elections.

And this:

Donald Trump has lashed out at reports that the US is running short of key munitions in its war with Iran, threatening long prison sentences for officials who leak information about the military’s weapons stocks.

The US president claimed on Thursday that the US had “massive amounts” of ammunition and said more was being manufactured and shipped to the region, as his frustration over the conflict spilled into a public attack on the media.

“Defense companies are building the largest number of plants and factories in our country’s history,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, without providing evidence or details about the specific weapons in question.

His remarks came after a report that he had demanded answers from his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, over alleged shortages at a cabinet meeting last Friday at Camp David, the US presidential retreat in Maryland.

Trump told Hegseth he felt misled because he believed the problem “had been fixed”, according to the Washington Post newspaper, citing two unnamed sources familiar with the exchange. Hegseth defended himself and sought to shift blame to his deputy, Stephen Feinberg, the Post reported.

The president responded angrily on Thursday, accusing the media of spreading “treasonous statements” and warning that those responsible would be pursued.

“The ‘leakers’ of these treasonous statements are being hunted down,” he wrote. “Long term jail sentences will be sought!”

CNN separately reported that shortages of long-range guided missiles and air defence interceptors had begun to constrain Trump’s strategy in the conflict. The US military had “nearly exhausted 80%” of its stock of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) interceptors, the network said.

The Washington Post also reported that concerns over dwindling supplies had contributed to Trump calling off further strikes against Iran, despite his repeated threats to hit the Islamic Republic “very hard”.

And this:

Trump says these documents prove his false claims of election fraud. Here’s what they really say
Politics Jul 17, 2026 7:08 PM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump released a trove of documents during a primetime address to the nation that allies had hyped as a smoking gun that would prove his long-debunked allegations of mass voter fraud.

Speaking from the White House on Thursday night, he described shocking revelations, like Chinese meddling to undermine his failed candidacy in 2020 and a cover-up by the “deep state.” He claimed, “Americans were blatantly lied to about the security of our election infrastructure.”

But a review by The Associated Press found no such confirmation in the collection of newly declassified reports, investigation files, intelligence analysis and assorted correspondence. Many pages are so heavily redacted that their findings are unclear. Others outline vulnerabilities and assessments that have been well-documented for years. There’s no evidence that China or any other foreign entity manipulated the vote in 2020 or any other year.

And this:

How four key Trump claims about the Iran war have fallen apart
Daniel Dale, Jul 23, 2026

Several of President Donald Trump’s key claims about the war with Iran have fallen apart.

Iran’s military
Trump’s claims: Trump repeatedly claimed this spring that Iran’s military capabilities had been entirely eradicated.

For example, he said in March, “Everything they have is gone, including their leadership.” He said in April, “They can’t fight back.” He said in May that Iran’s “military is totally gone” and that “we’ve totally destroyed their military.” He said in early July, “Look, they have no military left.”

Even after Trump’s remarks, Iran was able to launch military attacks on US forces, US allies in the region and commercial ships – and kill and injure American servicemembers.

Even before these Iranian attacks, it was clear that Trump wasn’t telling the truth about the state of Iran’s military. CNN reported in the spring that US intelligence had found that Iran continued to have considerable military capabilities and was rapidly rebuilding various capabilities that had been weakened in the war.

 Trump initially said the war would take mere weeks.
“It’s always been about a four-week process so – as strong as it is, it’s a big country, it’ll take four weeks – or less,” The Daily Mail quoted him as saying in an interview in early March. In a New York Times interview the same day, he said, “Well, we intended four to five weeks,” adding, “It won’t be difficult.”

In late March, he said, “We estimated it would take approximately four to six weeks to achieve our mission” and that they were “really a lot ahead of schedule.”

Trump also made a series of vaguer claims that the war would end fast, saying in March that it would be over “pretty quickly” and in May that “we’re gonna end that war very quickly.”

Nearly five months after Trump launched the war, the fighting continues – and he threatened an escalation on Wednesday, vowing to destroy one Iranian bridge or power plant every time Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait of Hormuz
Trump’s claims: On July 13, Trump posted that “the Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran,” declaring that the US would be “from this point forward, known as ‘THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT.’” He said in an interview the same day: “Well, we’re taking over the strait. They have nothing.” Then, on Sunday, Trump made an even stronger claim: “We control the strait. They [Iran] don’t control anything.”

How the claims fell apart: As was obvious when Trump made these claims, Iran retains significant control over the Strait of Hormuz even as the US Navy imposes a blockade against ships sailing to or from Iranian ports.

Trump has tried in recent weeks to promote a triumphant narrative about oil prices.
In the second half of June, amid the ceasefire with Iran in place at the time, he boasted that “oil prices are way down” and declared that “it’s soon going to be at the number that it was four months ago,” before he launched the war in late February.

He then claimed on July 8, “You see the oil prices are lower than they were when I started”and that “the prices of oil are dropping like a rock”; he conceded that the resumption of violence that day would be sending prices “up a little bit,” but he added, “This will end very quickly.” And he asserted in a social media post Sunday that oil prices were among those “dropping FAST.”

Both Brent and WTI crude were more expensive than they were when Trump started the war and when he returned to office in January 2025.

So MAGAs, tell me again why you believe anything Donald Trump says.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell