I think we need to retire the phrase “saber-rattling.” At least for Donald Trump and his merry band of psychopaths, losers and cross-eyed reptile-men. They’re not saber-rattling, they’re dementia-rattling and death-rattling. Early on Saturday morning, Donald Trump’s military and Israel made a coordinated attack on Iran. Trump says that regime change is the goal here, much like that dumbass bullsh-t he did in Venezuela a few months ago. Trump literally decided to strike Iran because of the Epstein Files. And now dozens of Iranian schoolgirls are dead.
President Trump is trying to overthrow Iran’s government. On Saturday morning, American and Israeli bombs fell on Tehran, the country’s capital. Trump announced the strikes in a video and vowed to destroy the country’s military, dismantle its nuclear program and force regime change. He said the attack would extend for several days, if not weeks.
“You must lay down your weapons,” Trump said to Iranian troops in the video, adding, “Or, in the alternative, face certain death.”
It’s not yet clear what was hit, but the strikes targeted an area of the city that houses the presidential palace, videos verified by The Times show. Satellite images also show a black plume of smoke at the compound of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, in Tehran, though it’s not clear where he is.
The city is in chaos. The internet is limited, and Iranians are trying to find loved ones and flee. “I rushed to school to get my daughter from middle school. The girls were hiding under the stairs and crying,” Ali Zeinalipoor, a Tehran resident, told our colleague.
The attack is ushering in a crisis across the Middle East: Iran’s government vowed “crushing retaliation” against Israel and the United States, and it fired waves of missiles at Israel this morning. Iran is also targeting American military bases in countries across the region. Its military power — and network of proxy forces — could draw the United States into a prolonged conflict.
I don’t know if Whisky Pete Hegseth’s Department of War even considered the idea that Iran would launch counterstrikes on America’s Middle East assets and allies, but that’s exactly what happened. Iran launched strikes on Dubai, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Jordan. Air travel and tourism in the Middle East were crippled in a matter of hours. All because Dementia Don wanted to distract from the fact that he and Jeffrey Epstein abused girls and women together for years.
Last night, Iran confirmed the widespread reports that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been killed in the strikes. Apparently, he was not moved to any kind of bunker or anything. While he was a repressive, horrific leader, the last thing Iran needs is a power vacuum.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
-
- Washington, DC Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, before boarding Marine One en route to Corpus Christi, Texas, and Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday, February 27, 2026. Pictured: Donald Trump BACKGRID USA 27 FEBRUARY 2026 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- Washington, DC Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, before boarding Marine One en route to Corpus Christi, Texas, and Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday, February 27, 2026. Pictured: Donald Trump BACKGRID USA 27 FEBRUARY 2026 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- Washington, DC Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, before boarding Marine One en route to Corpus Christi, Texas, and Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday, February 27, 2026. Pictured: Donald Trump BACKGRID USA 27 FEBRUARY 2026 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- Washington, DC *FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY – COMMERCIAL USE PROHIBITED* Frame grab from an eight-minute statement made by United States President Donald J Trump that was released via his X account concerning the United States attack on Iran, on Saturday, February 28, 2026. Pictured: Donald J Trump BACKGRID USA 28 FEBRUARY 2026 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- Washington, DC *FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY – COMMERCIAL USE PROHIBITED* Frame grab from an eight-minute statement made by United States President Donald J Trump that was released via his X account concerning the United States attack on Iran, on Saturday, February 28, 2026. Pictured: Donald J Trump BACKGRID USA 28 FEBRUARY 2026 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- Washington, DC *FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY – COMMERCIAL USE PROHIBITED* Frame grab from an eight-minute statement made by United States President Donald J Trump that was released via his X account concerning the United States attack on Iran, on Saturday, February 28, 2026. Pictured: Donald J Trump BACKGRID USA 28 FEBRUARY 2026 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
Am not surprised by this as it was only a matter of time before he and Netanyahu struck at Iran and while Khamenei was all kinds of evil, there are others who are much worse than him and those are the people that will grab power.
Attacking iran was always going to be another Iraq but worse. Plus they have literally just started another war in the Middle East that could easily escalate into another WW.
The Gulf states such as the UAE and Qatar are sworn enemies of Iran even though they are mostly quiet about it. It’s the old Sunni-Shia divide. Never any love lost. And Rachel Maddow had a fascinating analysis of this yesterday. She linked this action to the bribes these states have paid to various Trump family members. This could well be part of the reason for this. These states plus Saudi Arabia are calling in their investments in the Trumps. Remember the luxurious aircraft from Qatar given to Trump for his personal use? 👀
Interesting take – and yeah the Sunni’s and Shia’s have been trying to wipe each other out for centuries but given Iran has bombed them (their airports and hotels) it could escalate if the Gulf states retaliate and join this conflict.
Replacing the Islamic regime with a Shah might not work out well – I know there was talk of that as the current heir has offered to lead a gov.
It will be interesting to see how this impacts Iran’s support for Hamas, ISIS et al, esp as many of those leaders live in the Gulf States. The Hamas leadership live in luxury in Qatar.
Bullseye, @brassy rebel! In addition to providing a diversion from the Epstein files and a plausible reason to cancel the mid-term elections (gods help us, no!), this grifting, corrupt administration is utilizing our military as soldiers-for-hire to maintain their familial pot of gold in the UAE. Another piece of that reporting detailed how a Saudi prince had multiple, private phone calls with Trump in the weeks prior, advocating for attack. May this make our opposition stronger – stay hopeful out there! <3
So much for Trump being the peace President.
This was 100% to distract from trump & Epstein abusing girls.
We can’t let him get away with it.
The worst people with weapons that can kill is all.
If only someone who made peace in the middle east his life’s mission would step in, but alas.
PS I am disgusted that US & Israel killed so many girls, 148 victims was the most recent number I saw
He was too busy down at the pub, alas.
Will Barron be volunteering to serve on the front lines? And how old are Ivankas kids?
I suspect bone spurs might run in the family.
I’m disgusted that once again Trump ignored the Constitution and declared war without the knowledge or consent of Congress. He’s broken the law. Again.
Khamenei was 86. Has probably been largely a figurehead for a few years now so I fear that any suggestion his death brings this closer to a finish is very misguided. Sadly and tragically this might just be the start.
All to cover up for high profile child traffickers and their abusers. Billions of dollars spent on bombs while Americans make GoFundMes for their cancer treatments and insulin.
So that board of peace is actually bored of peace?
I’m confused. I get that it serves as a distraction. But he just decided to overthrow the Iranian government? Bc he says they have nuclear weapons. Am I getting that right? Not gonna lie, I’ve had to limit how much I can take in on the daily so I’m pretty ignorant on everything that’s happening here.
He and Israel (Netanyahu) decided now was the time to attack Iran. I don’t see it necessarily as a domestic distraction so much as he really likes ordering bombs and killing people. And he has no problem being the agent of foreign powers. If it distracts from his domestic failures, it’s an added bonus.
He can say that it’s to change leadership – but, in Venezuela, he didn’t change it. It’s the same regime minus the famous figurehead. The Supreme Leader Khamenai was older and there have been talks of succession plans for years; this week there were reports of specific succession (divided among 4 people to maximize success). If he wasn’t in a bunker, I think it’s because he thought being killed by the US was better.
He can also pretend it’s about it’s nuclear program. But (1) they kept saying they obliterated their program (2) he’d only attack a country that doesn’t have nuclear weapons, (3) reports are that in the nuclear negotiations with Iran this week, the US didn’t understand what Iran was saying (there are reports that the Oman foreign minister was trying to get to the US to help explain/redirect US insanity). When you have real estate nuts like his son-in-law in charge, it’s deliberately misunderstanding.
It’s completely awful. Old men trying to stay out of prison and wanting to hurt as many people as possible in the process.
And now they’ve made a martyr out of Khamenei.
He wants their oil.
Based on what I learned yesterday, there won’t be a power vacuum. Iran has spent years preparing for this eventuality and has a succession system which is four leaders deep. The idea that killing the Ayatollah would constitute regime change is pretty simple minded. As is the idea that ordinary Iranians can topple the regime themselves. It’s a secret police state which just recently massacred thousands of Iranians who attempted to overthrow the government.
Yes – they have been preparing for this for years. Those who will come after Khamenei will be worse, much worse that he ever was. The Iranian people will pay the price for Trump’s distraction from being outed as a pedo.
About a month ago around 30-40 thousand Iranians were killed protesting for freedom and to overthrow the current regime. Many more are in custody awaiting their “trial” which will likely end in a death sentence for protesting.
Talk to any despora Iranian ( as I have) and they will 100 percent tell you how happy they are and how long they’ve waited for this moment.
If we choose to let a totalitarian regime exist just because we want quiet in the middle east it’s sentencing people to their deaths.
A lot of countries did not see the point in conforting Nazi Germany during WWII because it didn’t directly effect them.
I really can’t stand Trump , and I really can’t say what his true motives are,but I’m standing with the Iranian people on this one. It’s time they earn their freedom.
Starting a war/indescriminate bombing campaign doesn’t help anyone living in the region though. And there are a lot of totalitarian regimes. Like Iraq, Hussein was bad but not worth the thousands of lives lost and chaos and long-term problems it created. Bombing a country doesn’t automatically change the style of leadership, either – it’s just chaos and no one can predict what will happen next, except there will be more deaths. And I’m frustrated because instead of exploiting opportunities to help – from their severe crackdowns showing internal weakness to having to move Tehran because of water shortages – we’ve given hardliners a clear external enemy.
Do you really think they would be celebrating for long? Unfortunately, I have a sinking feeling that their relief will be short lived. dump doesn’t do anything out of the goodness of his heart.
Are they free?
Thank you for this. I am getting really tired of non-Iranians speaking over the Iranian voice. While there was never going to be a perfect solution for Iran, pretending that Iranians who are extremely educated don’t understand what it would mean to ask for foreign intervention, is insulting. They have already paid with 40,000 of their lives in just 2 months because they were protesting against the many things the Iranian regime has done over the last 40 years.
Iranians have been protesting since 2009 and the govt’s response was to continue killing them. Their response was to funnel billions of dollars out of Iran with inflation in Iran going to 75%. Instead of people talking about the horrible human rights abuses that the govt inflicted on it’s own people for 40 years, they talk about a fake news story from the regime of 80 kids dead in a school being bombed not the 30,000 Iranians who were murdered this last couple of months. That school was on a IRGC compound. It was a school for IRGC’s children and it was evacuated before the air strikes. Iranians, not the regime, have been clearing up what’s the truth and what is the Iranian regime propaganda. Let’s amplify Iranian voices instead of talking over them. There will not be a power vacuum in Iran. Iran has had institutions in place for many years regardless of living under a theocracy. They will have another leader whether that’s the past Shah’s son or someone internal, Iranians will decide for themselves but nobody in Iran except for the religious fanatics are sad that Khaemini and his cohorts are dead.
I would guess he’s after the oil, as he was in Venezuela. He’s impulsive and deranged and should be removed from office but he’s also – bottom line! – a greedy tycoon like the powerful people who back him and/or collude with him. Does Jared Kushner care about the rights of anyone or the law? America is already nothing but the pawn of this horrible family.
And of Putin
Hm – from what I see, Putin is not a fan of this invasion – ? – unless there’s something we don’t know and he’s pretending. Who knows, they’re all sneaky and dreadful. I think this is really just The Trump family trumping – they’ve amassed so much power and money that now they’re going for broke with it all. Iran’s oil indicates a COLOSSAL power move.
What they fail to see because they are incompetent is that Iran has always plans for something like this to happen. It will just be the next horrible leader up!! No one will takeover Iran to put new government in because they plan for these things to happen. This is the excuse that trump used but we all no it’s a cover up for raping babies and he wants to declare and emergency to stop the voting with the excuse that we are at war!! He must stay in office so that he can’t be arrested!!
Yes, he is going to burn down the entire world and take us all with him before he ever faces one second of accountability for his crimes. He is truly the Antichrist and I cannot at all process how anyone outside of his fellow Epstein criminals can still be supporting him.
I can’t take any more of his evil.
🎯 exactly how I feel 😭
Ditto.
I do wonder, if we are in the middle of a war here, a war there, a war everywhere? How could we possibly hold elections? That will be Trump’s excuse for his forever term in office.
That’s his excuse & it’s completely asinine. We were in the middle of WWII & held elections, that’s how FDR got elected for his 3rd & 4th terms, Wilson during WWI, Etc., etc., etc., going all the way back to Lincoln during the Civil War.
Last I heard 3 American soldiers were killed and 5 seriously injured. Had to turn the TV off.
Damn it.
In a functional country, he’d be impeached and removed for this.
They bombed a girls school, where the death toll has risen to 148. I couldn’t stop thinking yesterday about those girls.
Trump and company are monsters who should be tried in the Hague for war crimes.
I was quite sickened by that & reading trump’s ‘yeah, some people are going to die but that’s how it is in wars’ speech. They killed little girls! Just disgusting, absolutely disgusting.
Trump and co. want to install Mohammed Reza Pahlavi as leader. Remember his father ruled Iran until the 1970s with his secret police, disappearances, cronyism, etc. no doubt Iranians will be in for more of the same.
Oh, good gad, really?! The US installing a shah worked so well that first time. 🤦♀️
My nephew, a pilot in the AF, was called up in the middle of the night on Sat AM, and was in the Middle East by yesterday afternoon. Obv, we don’t know where. It’s nauseating to think how many innocents on the ground, and how many US servicemen, will pay the price for this deranged orange idiot trying to cover up his perverted crimes. I’m struggling to hold onto hope that there will ever be any justice. I understand the moral arc of the universe is long, but when it going to bend?
This makes me sick to my stomach! How are other countries not condemning this?!
I lived in Riyadh when the gulf war started and the US went after Saddam Hussein, I didn’t understand much but I remember being given gas masks and being taught how to wear them and to go to the basement or shelter whenever the sirens went off. The air raids were usually late at night. I must have been 4 or 5 years old.
Growing up, I would see organisations protesting about US imperialism and for them to leave the country (Philippines), there was a military base at that time.I never really understood why because at that time we were taught or the information in the media was that the US were saviours and we would be better off as their partners (ha! as if.). How naive was I! They are nothing but warmongers who loot other countries for their resources. Every time a news pops up about someone who died I grow disappointed that it’s not dump or any of his cronies.
The world continues to disappoint.
I weep for my country.