Trump Threatens Treason Charges for Reporters Covering Iran War

Donald Trump is accusing media outlets of committing treason over their Iran war coverage.

On Truth Social Sunday, Trump made a long-winded post accusing Iran of using AI to create fake videos of attacks on U.S. ships and American publications of “false reporting,” calling out The Wall Street Journal by name. In one instance, he cited a fake video of the USS Abraham Lincoln “burning uncontrollably in the ocean.”

“Not only was it not burning, it was not even shot at—Iran knows better than to do that! The story was knowingly FAKE and, in a certain way, you can say that those Media Outlets that generated it should be brought up on Charges for TREASON for the dissemination of false information!” Trump ranted. “The fact is, Iran is being decimated, and the only battles they ‘win’ are those that they create through AI, and are distributed by Corrupt Media Outlets. The Radical Leftwing Press knows this full well, but continues to go forward with false stories and LIES.”

Trump went on to praise Federal Communications Commission chief Brendan Carr for threatening “the licenses of some of these Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic ‘News’ Organizations.” Carr on Saturday threatened to revoke the broadcasting licenses of local outlets that he determined to be sharing “fake” news.

The president has long attacked media outlets for even the slightest bit of critical coverage against him, but the weaponization of the FCC in his second term adds cause for concern with this post. Under Carr’s tenure, the FCC has attacked multiple TV networks, including NBC, ABC, and CBS, citing various excuses, including DEI and new interpretations of existing statutes.

Trump officials, such as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, are also lashing out at the media, openly gloating as right-wing ownership gets closer to running CNN. As Trump’s war with Iran continues to go poorly, he will continue to lash out at anyone who points out the obvious. Will this come with an attempt to censor the press?

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Monday that the United States is “fine” with allowing Iranian oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz—due to the surging oil prices thanks to Trump’s war.

“The Iranian ships have been getting out already, and we’ve let that happen to supply the rest of the world,” Bessent said in an interview with CNBC’s Brian Sullivan. “We think that there will be a natural opening that the Iranians are letting out, and for now we’re fine with that. We want the world to be well supplied.”

Asked whether the Trump administration will take any additional actions to address skyrocketing oil prices, Bessent said “it will depend on the duration of the conflict.” Iran, however, is very much profiting, as it’s maintained its ability to move oil around the world—mostly to China.

This comes just hours after President Trump virtually begged China, France, and other U.S. allies for help ushering oil through the strait.

The United States doesn’t seem to be “allowing” anything here. The Strait of Hormuz is lined with explosives and under Iranian control. Bessent’s admission seems like panicked capitulation based on skyrocketing oil prices rather than some kind of diplomatic tactic.

An Afghan man who worked with the United States military for more than a decade was dragged away from his two children at the preschool drop-off line. A day later, he was dead.

Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal was detained by federal immigration agents in Richardson, Texas, Friday while dropping off his two children at preschool, according to his brother, Naseer Paktiawal, who spoke to CBS News.

“He was arrested in front of these kids while taking them to school at seven in the morning. Some people surrounded him, put him in the car, and drove him away while they were screaming, asking for help,” Naseer Paktiawal told CBS News.

Before emigrating to the United States in 2021, Paktiawal was a member of the Afghan special forces who was hired by the U.S. government. He worked with them for more than a decade. “He was a hero to his family, to his people, and to his country,” his brother told CBS News.

According to ICE, Mohammed Nazeer Paktiawal was “paroled into the U.S. by an immigration officer,” or granted temporary permission to enter the country under Operation Allies Refuge, an evacuation effort for allied Afghan nationals that took place under the Biden administration. ICE told CBS News, however, that Nazeer Paktiawal had provided no record of his military service. His parole had expired in August 2025, the agency said.

ICE claimed that he had previously been arrested for SNAP fraud and theft.

The evening of his arrest, in the processing room of ICE’s Dallas field office, Paktiawal complained of shortness of breath and chest pain. He was then transferred to Parkland Hospital, where he received treatment and a doctor bade him to stay for observation. The next morning, medical staff observed that his tongue had become swollen. Later, after cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other lifesaving measures, Paktiawal was declared dead.

“All I want,” said Naseer Paktiawal, “I want justice for my brother. I don’t need anything else from this government.”

The number of detainee deaths at ICE facilities has significantly increased as nearly 70,000 people are currently held in detention and the agency has stopped paying for health care altogether.

ICE has repeatedly failed to disclose information about detainee deaths, according to Zeteo.

As of Monday, ICE’s detainee death reporting webpage only lists two deaths in 2026. But ICE has published press releases documenting nine deaths since the beginning of 2026—a year that began with one detainee being choked to death by a guard.

Just two weeks into the war that he started, Donald Trump has resorted to begging other countries for assistance in securing the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump claimed that other regions of the world—such as China—depend more on the Middle East waterway than the U.S. does, and should therefore be leading the charge in reopening the bomb-laden strait.

“I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their territory. It’s the place from which they get their energy. And they should come and they should help us protect it,” Trump said. “Why are we maintaining the Hormuz Strait when it’s really there for China and many other countries? Why aren’t they doing it?”

Situated between Iran and the United Arab Emirates, the Strait of Hormuz is the single most important energy transit point in the world, funneling approximately one-fifth of all crude oil shipments. Iran began laying mines across the passageway last week, effectively sealing in the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman from the rest of the open ocean.

Trump insisted that China gets about 90 percent of its crude oil imports through the Strait of Hormuz, though analysts that spoke with CNBC disagree, noting to the business network that “Beijing has spent the past two decades diversifying energy supplies and building strategic reserves to mitigate potential disruptions.”

In 2024, the U.S. imported roughly 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day through the strait, accounting for roughly 7 percent of total U.S. crude imports, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

In a Truth Social post on Saturday, the president insisted that nations “affected by Iran’s attempted closure” of the strait would be sending warships to the area. He specifically named China, France, Japan, South Korea, and the U.K. as countries he hoped would contribute.

Nonetheless, some of America’s named allies have already rejected Trump’s plea. French President Emmanuel Macron said he would send the French navy to escort tankers, but only after the conflict stabilizes. Leaders from the U.K., Germany, Poland, and Spain have outright refused to get involved.

The U.S. president is attempting to strong-arm Beijing into the matter, openly weighing the possibility of delaying his planned summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping if his economic adversary does not participate in his war plan, reported the Financial Times Sunday.

Trump has yet to receive Congress’s approval for the war or formally address the American public about the deadly conflict. In failing to do so, he has broken tradition with every other president before him.

So far, 13 U.S. soldiers have been killed in the conflict, as have more than 20 Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. More than 1,200 Iranian civilians have been killed, including dozens of children at a girls’ school in the country’s south. Some 3.2 million people have been displaced as U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran have damaged more than 42,000 civilian sites, including homes, hospitals, and schools, according to Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani.

President Donald Trump really doesn’t want to talk about sending more U.S. service members to die in the Middle East, after he’d already claimed the war was won. 

The Pentagon is moving 5,000 additional Marines and several warships to the Middle East, amid Iran’s continued attacks on the Strait of Hormuz that have paralyzed global trade and sent oil prices skyrocketing.

Speaking to the press aboard Air Force One Sunday, Trump cast aside questions about the deployment. 

“Can you explain why we’re sending 5,000 Marines and sailors?” asked one reporter. “Can you explain why you’re—”

“You’re a very obnoxious person,” Trump said, before quickly moving on. 

He also appeared to sidestep questions about the U.S. service members who had already been killed in retaliatory attacks. 

“Do you have a comment on the six service members who passed?” asked another reporter.

“Who else?” Trump said, searching for another question before quickly departing.

Trump’s refusal to speak about these service members is the clearest sign that the president is unable—or unwilling—to grasp the human cost of the U.S. and Israel’s military onslaught on Iran.  

Last week, Trump confusedly claimed the war was “won” but that the U.S. must stick around to “finish the job.” On Thursday, he insisted that rising gas prices are actually good—surely a winning political message. Now, it seems that Trump’s increasingly expensive and divisive war will continue.