Donald Trump has posted a barrage of AI-generated images on Truth Social focused on Iran, as concerns mount that fighting could flare again after negotiations failed to gain traction.
The standoff between the US and Iran is intensifying.
Iran has effectively restricted most shipping through the Strait of Hormuz in the wake of US-Israeli strikes that began on February 28, triggering major shocks to global energy markets and pushing average US gasoline prices up by more than 50 percent to $4.51 a gallon nationwide.
Officials now put the price tag of the conflict at $29 billion, rising from the $25 billion figure Pentagon comptroller Jay Hurst gave lawmakers in late April. Hurst attributed the increase to updated repair and replacement estimates for equipment, plus continuing operational costs.
In an interview with Fox News last week, Trump signaled his impatience: “I am not going to be much more patient, They should make a deal.”
He rejected Iran’s most recent counterproposal as “totally unacceptable”, adding: “I looked at it, and if I don’t like the first sentence I just throw it away.”
Trump also said the ceasefire arrangement was on “massive life support”.
Over the weekend, he followed up with multiple AI-styled “war” visuals.
One image portrayed Trump on a warship in rough seas, gesturing toward the viewer beside a US naval officer, while an Iranian flag appeared on a nearby vessel. The caption stated: ‘It was the calm before the storm’.
Another showed him seated in a futuristic control setting, pressing a red button with surrounding monitors displaying blasts, accompanied by the caption: ‘Space Force’.
A separate post featured a US warship firing a laser at an Iranian aircraft, with the caption: ‘Lasers, bing, bing, gone!!!’.
Perhaps the most direct graphic was a split-screen comparing an undamaged Iranian fleet labeled ‘Obama/Biden’ with the same ships shown sunk on the ocean floor and labeled ‘Trump’.
The edit echoed his previous assertion that 159 Iranian vessels are “at the bottom of the sea.”
He also uploaded an image of a US flag laid over the Middle East with directional markers aimed at Iran.
Along with the images, Trump included a written message warning: “For Iran, the clock is ticking, and they better get moving fast, or there won’t be anything lest of them. Time is of the essence. President DJT.”
The posts landed as Trump was preparing for a Sunday call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to review the situation. An Israeli official told Axios that Iran would be part of the discussion.
Hurst later reiterated to lawmakers that the war’s estimated cost had climbed to $29 billion, up from the $25 billion he presented in April.
On Saturday, Iran signaled additional measures around the Strait of Hormuz, announcing proposed charges on vessels transiting the key corridor. Ebrahim Azizi, who leads Iran’s parliament national security committee, said ships would face “fees for specialized services”, while the route would remain closed to operators tied to what he described as the “freedom project”.
With Secretary of State for War Pete Hegseth saying the US has “a plan to escalate if necessary” and Iranian outlets claiming Washington has offered no serious concessions in reply to Tehran’s latest terms, prospects for a negotiated breakthrough appear to be shrinking.