Donald Trump is changing his story about one especially horrifying military action on the opening day of his Iran war.
The 79-year-old president on Friday discussed Tomahawk missiles, one of which destroyed an Iranian girls’ school on Feb. 28, killing at least 175 people, many of whom were children. Trump initially claimed on March 7 that the strike was “done by Iran.” Then, two days later, Trump said the strike was being investigated but still claimed that Iran possessed Tomahawk missiles. Now, that part of his narrative is changing too.
‘’Look, nobody has the technology or the weapons that we have," he said on Brian Kilmeade’s Fox News radio show. “And the Patriot [missiles] are an example of it. We have the Tomahawks, we have the Patriots, we have stuff that nobody’s been able to produce, and they can’t produce it like us.”
On Monday, when asked about whether the U.S. would take responsibility for the strike, Trump had claimed that Iran “also has” Tomahawks.
“I will say that the tomahawk, which is one of the most powerful weapons around, is sold and used by other countries,” Trump, 79, said. “And whether it’s Iran, who also has some Tomahawks—they wish they had more—but whether it’s Iran or somebody else, the fact that a Tomahawk—a Tomahawk is very generic."
When he initially blamed Iran for the strike on March 7, even Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—who has fervently supported Trump’s war mission—wouldn’t commit to the statement.
Instead, when Hegseth was asked if Trump’s allegations against Iran were true, the defense secretary answered noncommittally, “We’re certainly investigating.”
Not only does Iran not have Tomahawk missiles, nor is the country even authorized to purchase them, but a preliminary U.S. military investigation found that a U.S. Tomahawk missile hit the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school building in the city of Minab, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
The school building used to be attached to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps naval base. The U.S. was targeting that base, but with outdated intelligence from the Defense Intelligence Agency, according to the paper.
Trump’s brag to Kilmeade on Friday that “nobody” else has Tomahawk missiles is not only a reversal and direct contradiction of his earlier statements—it’s also misleading.
The U.K. and Australia also possess Tomahawk missiles, which are manufactured by the American company Raytheon. Additionally, in 2024, the U.S. agreed to sell 400 such missiles to Japan, and last year sold 163 to the Netherlands, though neither country’s stockpiles are readily available.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
The death toll in Iran and Lebanon has surpassed 2,000 after nearly two weeks of war. A reported 13 U.S. service members have been killed.
