Trump's reckless lies harm America's credibility, reputation

First published in the Brunswick Beacon, 03.19.26

On Feb. 28, hours after Trump took America to war, an Iranian girls’ elementary school was bombed, killing 168 young girls and 14 teachers.

On March 7, offering no proof, Trump said, “That was done by Iran. They’re very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions.”

Two days later, a reporter asked Trump about video footage showing that an American-made Tomahawk missile destroyed the school. Trump replied: “Iran also has some Tomahawks. They wish they had more.”

Fact-checkers quickly confirmed that Trump’s claim was false — Iran has neither Tomahawks nor specialized Tomahawk launchers. The U.S. sells Tomahawk systems only to allies: United Kingdom, Australia, the Netherlands and Japan.

Asked why he was the only administration official saying that, Trump feigned ignorance: “I just don’t know enough about it.”

On March 11, Trump’s attempt to blame Iranian inaccuracy backfired spectacularly. The New York Times reported that the Pentagon’s preliminary investigation concluded that U.S. forces mistakenly bombed the school because targeting coordinates were based on outdated intelligence. Asked if he takes responsibility, Trump said, “I don’t know about it.”

The girls’ school bombing ranks among the deadliest attacks on civilians by American forces in decades. The U.N.’s education agency, UNESCO, called it a “grave violation of international humanitarian law.” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said it violated international law. Human Rights Watch called for a war crimes investigation.

Even Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) felt compelled to apologize. “It was terrible. We made a mistake,” he told NBC. “Other countries do that sort of thing intentionally, like Russia. I’m just so sorry it happened. It was a mistake.”

The bombing was a mistake. The harm to America’s credibility and reputation was not. Asked to accept responsibility for the consequences of his actions, Trump followed his familiar playbook: blame others for your mistakes, lie recklessly about easily proven facts, feign ignorance, deny responsibility, and — above all else — never apologize.

Vince Amoroso

Sunset Beach