Donald Trump is facing renewed backlash after an unusual Oval Office moment in which he launched into a World War III warning while appearing to fiddle with a model B-2 bomber.
The incident took place on Monday March 16 as the President defended last week’s US strikes on Iran, arguing they were required to maintain stability internationally.
“Had we not done this, you would have had a nuclear war that would have evolved into World War III,” he said. “So we’ve done a great thing.”
Shortly after, someone from his administration presented him with a small replica of a B-2 bomber — a US-built long-range stealth aircraft designed to bypass advanced air-defence systems.
“It looks small, but in person it’s very big. It’s the only plane capable of carrying a 200,000-pound bomb. I don’t know how they do it because it’s very sleek and beautiful, but it carries a lot of weapons,” Trump explained as the toy was placed upon his desk.
Online, many viewers criticised the contrast between the light, almost playful visual and the discussion of a conflict that has reportedly claimed more than 2,000 lives over three weeks.
“Acting like immature kid !!” one person wrote on X.
“What a clown,” someone else added.
The moment came only hours after Trump said he was not prepared to declare victory over Iran, signalling instead that the US campaign would continue as tensions across the Middle East escalated.
“No, I’m not going to do that. There’s no reason to,” he responded bluntly when questioned by The Hill.
Trump has since pushed allies to increase their involvement, calling on seven of the US’ closest partners to deploy warships to help secure the Strait of Hormuz — a key route for global energy shipments.
FactCheck.org reports roughly 20 million barrels of crude oil moved through the Strait in 2025, but that flow has reportedly slowed to “a trickle” since the US-Iran conflict intensified.
The US imports only a smaller share of its oil from the Persian Gulf — including supplies tied to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — with around 490,000 barrels brought into the country. By comparison, Canada represented about 63 per cent of US crude oil imports last year.
This is 8 per cent of nearly 6.2 million per day sent to the US on average, the U.S. Energy Information Administration says.
Any suggestion that de-escalation is imminent also appears unlikely given Trump’s remarks over the weekend, when he floated the idea of further strikes on Iran’s major oil-export hub at Kharg Island, saying it could be done simply for enjoyment.
Speaking to NBC News, Trump said US strikes had ‘totally demolished’ most of the island but ‘we may hit it a few more times just for fun.’
During the same interview, he also dismissed the idea of reaching an agreement with Iran, indicating he felt that any potential offer still fell short, as he suggested ‘the terms aren’t good enough yet’.