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U.S. President Donald Trump screamed at aides for hours after learning an American F-15E had been shot down in Iran, and was deliberately kept out of the Situation Room during minute-by-minute rescue updates because aides believed his impatience "wouldn't be helpful."
He also refused to send troops to seize Kharg Island, citing casualty fears, and at one point mused about awarding himself the Medal of Honor, according to a sweeping Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report into the inside dynamics of the Iran war published on Saturday.
When Trump was informed that an American jet had been shot down with two airmen missing, the Journal reports he "screamed at aides for hours" and repeatedly said, "The Europeans aren't helping."
He demanded the military immediately retrieve the airmen, but was told U.S. forces had not operated on the ground in Iran since 1979.
Aides kept him out of the room during minute-by-minute Situation Room updates, U.S. Vice President Vance dialing in from Camp David, chief of staff Susie Wiles from her Florida home, instead briefing him by phone at key moments because they believed "his impatience would not be helpful."
One airman was recovered quickly; it was not until late Saturday that Trump received word that the second had been rescued in a high-stakes extraction.
The Journal reports Trump referenced the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis, saying: "If you look at what happened with Jimmy Carter, with the helicopters and the hostages, it cost them the election. What a mess."
Despite being told the mission to seize Kharg Island, the launch point for 90% of Iran's oil exports, would succeed and give the U.S. control of the strait, Trump refused to order it.
"They'll be sitting ducks," Trump said, according to people familiar with the matter, citing concerns about unacceptably high American casualties.
The Journal says Trump is grappling behind the scenes with "just how badly things could go wrong" even as he projects public belligerence.
Hours after learning the second airman had been rescued, Trump posted his profanity-laden Easter morning message on social media, demanding Iran open the Strait of Hormuz, including the phrase "Praise be to Allah."
The WSJ reported that Trump's post was entirely improvised.
When an adviser later asked about it, Trump said he came up with the Allah idea himself, he wanted to seem "as unstable and insulting as possible," believing it would bring the Iranians to the table. "It was a language, he said, the Iranians would understand."
He then asked advisers: "How's it playing?"
When Republican senators and Christian leaders called aides to complain about the Easter post, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told others privately it was "language that might actually bring the Iranians to negotiate."
The WSJ reported that Trump's Tuesday-after-Easter post threatening to destroy Iranian civilization unless a deal was reached in 12 hours was also "improvisational and not part of a national security plan."
Senior aides saw it as a way to spur negotiations in a war Trump was "desperately ready to end." Less than 90 minutes before his deadline, Trump announced the two-week ceasefire.
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