President Donald Trump, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio meet in the Situation Room of the White House, Saturday, June 21, 2025. Portions of this photo have been blurred for security purposes. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
In a lengthy post to social media, Donald Trump on Monday fumed over "fake news" after three separate major reports detailed a top general's warning to him and his White House "brain trust."
Earlier the same day, a report from Axios detailed a warning that Trump and his officials had been given about carrying out a military strike against Iran. According to sources close to the situation, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has recently advised the White House against any sort of military strike on Iran amid ongoing nuclear program negotiations, expressing concern that it could result in a much broader military conflict. He also expressed concerns about the U.S. military's ability to carry out a prolonged conflict in the Middle Eastern nation, due to the potential complexities involved and the recent depletion of the military's munitions stockpile.
The details of that initial report were shortly thereafter backed up by similar reports from The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.
In a post to his Truth Social platform on Monday afternoon, Trump lashed out at the reports regarding Caine's stance on a military strike against Iran, deriding them as "fake news." The president claimed that while Caine — like himself and others in the administration — would rather avoid a conflict, he is not, as the reports stated, wary of the U.S. military's ability to defeat Iran.
"Numerous stories from the Fake News Media have been circulating stating that General Daniel Caine, sometimes referred to as Razin, is against us going to War with Iran," Trump's post read. "The story does not attribute this vast wealth of knowledge to anyone, and is 100 percent incorrect. General Caine, like all of us, would like not to see War but, if a decision is made on going against Iran at a Military level, it is his opinion that it will be something easily won."
Trump further noted that Caine oversaw the operation last summer in which the U.S. military carried out strikes against three Iranian nuclear development facilities. He also claimed that Caine "has not spoken of not doing Iran," and would dutifully carry out such a conflict if asked. The initial report from Axios noted that point as well, reporting that "one source said Caine was not advocating for a strike but will support and execute on any decision Trump makes"
"Everything that has been written about a potential War with Iran has been written incorrectly, and purposefully so," Trump's post concluded. "I am the one that makes the decision, I would rather have a Deal than not but, if we don’t make a Deal, it will be a very bad day for that Country and, very sadly, its people, because they are great and wonderful, and something like this should never have happened to them."