What did Donald Trump do today?

He simultaneously predicted peace with Iran (for the 38th time) and tried to get revenge against it.

Just after noon today, Trump issued a statement blaming Iran for the crash of an Apache helicopter off the coast of Oman, claiming that it was Iranian fire that shot down the "highly sophisticated" aircraft. (Both crewmembers were recovered safely.)

Initially, Trump had downplayed the incident, claiming that the fact that the pilots were unhurt meant that Iran downing an American helicopter "wasn't a big deal." This isn't the first time Trump has tried to shrug off actual threats in the hopes of maintaining the illusion of peace with Iran: in 2025, after Iran bombed a US base in Kuwait, Trump absurdly claimed he'd given his permission for the attack. 

 

Of course, the actual United States military tends to regard lethal-force attacks against American servicemembers as a very big deal, and by noon Trump had changed his mind, saying that that the United States "must respond" to the loss of the Apache. By this evening, the United States had carried out strikes on 20 targets, according to an administration official. Iran also retaliated, launching drones at US bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan.

But even as the United States and Iran traded attacks in real time, Trump still ruled out ending the "ceasefire" he unilaterally declared in early April. Or, rather, he's ruled out acknowledging that, with all parties to the conflict exchanging attacks, the ceasefire is already over.

The reason for that bizarre contradiction appears to be that today is Tuesday, the midpoint of the three-day period that Trump predicted on Sunday would see Iran agree to a framework for peace negotiations. Even after the news of the Apache crash, early this morning, Trump was still insisting that he was "two or three days away" from a deal, meaning a signed memorandum of understanding for how to talk about an actual peace agreement.

That latest claim is at least the thirty-eighth separate time that Trump has predicted the imminent end of the war since it began 102 days ago. 

This is the latest iteration of a problem that has plagued Trump since the beginning of his ill-fated war: he can't militarily defeat Iran, he can't outlast a regime he's strengthened by virtue of his attacks, and—most importantly—he's completely incapable of admitting how badly he's blundered. 

Why does this matter?

• The safety, security, and prosperity of the United States is infinitely more important than Donald Trump's ego. 

• Lies don't become true just because you repeat them 38 times or more. 

• No matter how stupid or ill-advised the war in which they happen, attacks against American forces are something the President of the United States
  
  
  
  should care about.