More than 10 weeks ago, when Donald Trump announced the start of the U.S. war with Iran in a prerecorded video filmed at his glorified country club in Florida, the president presented the public with five objectives. The first goal of the operation was to destroy Iran’s missiles and missile industry.

To hear the Republican administration tell it, that objective has been met. In March, for example, the president boasted that Iran’s missiles were “down to a scatter” and the Middle Eastern country had “nothing left in a military sense.” A month later, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed the point, adding that Iran’s military capabilities have been rendered “combat-ineffective for years to come.”

There is reason to believe the president and his team have not just mismanaged an unnecessary war, they have also taken deliberate steps to deceive the public about its progress. The New York Times reported:

The Trump administration’s public portrayal of a shattered Iranian military is sharply at odds with what U.S. intelligence agencies are telling policymakers behind closed doors, according to classified assessments from early this month that show Iran has regained access to most of its missile sites, launchers and underground facilities.

Most alarming to some senior officials is evidence that Iran has restored operational access to 30 of the 33 missile sites it maintains along the Strait of Hormuz, which could threaten American warships and oil tankers transiting the narrow waterway.

The Times’ report, which MS NOW has independently verified, went on to say the country “still fields about 70 percent of its mobile launchers across the country and has retained roughly 70 percent of its prewar missile stockpile.”

It stands to reason that the president would be displeased with this information, given that it undercuts a foundational objective of the entire mission, but Trump is not directing his ire at Iran or U.S. officials who have failed to crush Tehran’s capabilities.

Rather, the president appears enraged by journalists telling the public information he would prefer to obscure. In other words, Trump seems less upset about the developments in Iran than he does about Americans knowing about the developments in Iran.

Two weeks ago, for example, Trump said the Times’ coverage of Iran was “actually seditious, in my opinion.” This week, he kept going, saying via his social media platform that news organizations have committed “virtual TREASON,” adding, “They are aiding and abetting the enemy!”

The argument is tough to follow — the Iranian government is aware of its own military capabilities, whether American news organizations report on its resources or not, so it’s far from clear how Iranian officials are “aided” by the disclosures — though it’s important to emphasize that this is not just an instance of Trump railing against the nation’s free press for the umpteenth time.

On the contrary, the administration is also following through on the rhetoric with meaningful action. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Trump “privately complained to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche about media leaks in the wake of the Iran war last month, according to administration officials familiar with the matter, prompting an aggressive push at the Justice Department to pursue those investigations.”

The article, which has not been independently verified by MS NOW, added, “The Wall Street Journal received grand jury subpoenas dated March 4 for records of Journal reporters.”

There is every reason to believe this trend will get worse long before it gets better. Watch this space.

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