Senior US military leaders reportedly kept Donald Trump at arm's lengthduring a critical Iran rescue mission briefing in Washington earlier this month, with one Democratic lawmaker now arguing the president is 'not well' and should be removed from office under the 25th Amendment.
According to theIrish Star, the claims stem from an incident after aUS fighter jet was shot down by Iranian forces, triggering a high risk operation to rescue a downed airman inside Iran. The paper, citing a report first detailed byThe Wall Street Journal, says Trump was not given a full command briefing on the mission and instead received only limited updates because senior officials feared his behaviour could jeopardise the operation. Neither the Pentagon nor the White House has publicly confirmed that account.
The central claim is stark. Rather than leading discussions on a covert mission to recover a US airman from hostile territory, Trump was reportedly kept away from detailed planning by senior figures inside his own administration.
The report claims that in the hours after the jet was shot down, Trump was in a state of near panic, shouting at aides in the West Wing and fixating on the political fallout if the rescue failed. According to people cited by the Journal, he was also preoccupied by comparisons with the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, which has long been seen as a political disaster for Jimmy Carter.
'If you look at what happened with Jimmy Carter, it cost them the election,' Trump is quoted as saying, according to people familiar with his private remarks. In that account, his focus was not only on the immediate military problem, but on how the crisis might affect him politically.
Faced with that atmosphere, national security officials are said to have decided it was safer to manage the operation without Trump in the room. He was reportedly kept informed in broad terms, but the most sensitive decisions were handled by others.
The report suggests this was not simply a matter of style or internal preference. It presents the move as a response to what officials allegedly saw as erratic or 'crazy' behaviour. That claim has now fuelled fresh Democratic calls to revisit the 25th Amendment.
New York Democrat Daniel Goldmanwas among the first to react publicly to the report. In a post on X, he used the alleged sidelining to question Trump's fitness for office.
'The commander in chief was excluded from commanding a military operation because he was acting so crazy. Think about that,' Goldman wrote. 'Trump is not well. We need the 25th Amendment before something really bad happens on US soil.'
The commander-in-chief was excluded from commanding a military operation because he was acting so crazy.Think about that.Trump is not well. We need the 25th amendment before something really bad happens on US soil.https://t.co/PbzWgStK3B
Source: International Business Times UK
