When President Donald Trump approached the podium at the White House on Wednesday morning, he swiftly delved into his assessment on the outcome of Tuesday night’s attack on two U.S. military bases in Iraq. America was listening.
Trump arrived about 25 minutes late to deliver his remarks about the missile attacks at Al-Asad Air Force Base and the base in Irbil. Once at the podium, Trump commenced speaking on the favorable update that no American soldiers were harmed during the attacks.
»MORE: Iran 'standing down' after attacks, Trump says, announcing new economic sanctions
“The American people should be extremely grateful and happy,” he said about 11:30 a.m. ET Wednesday. “No Americans were harmed in last night’s attack by the Iranian regime.”
That news delighted some on social media, who considered the U.S.-Iran combative events over the last week a “victory.”
Others expressed hope that the news of no casualties and Trump’s comments that Iran would be “standing down” were indications that no war would transpire between the U.S. and the Middle Eastern country.
Trump, during his 8-minute speech, justified the actions of the U.S. last week when top Quds force leader Gen. Qassem Soleimani was killed by saying the attacks were “decisive action” to combat Iran’s efforts to be the “leading sponsor of terrorism.”
Though Trump still said his team planned to implement economic sanctions on Iran, he said his vision for Iran is for peace.
“Iran can be a great country,” he said. “Peace and stability cannot prevail in the Middle East as long as Iran continues to foment violence, unrest, hatred and war.”
Many who watched the speech were more fixated on Trump’s approach to attacking Iran and his delivery of the speech, which some said was distracting due to Trump’s heavy breathing and “slurring.”
Others took note of Trump putting onus on the Obama administration for reportedly paying for the weapons used by Iran in the attacks.
In general, the response to the president’s comments spanned from outrage to lukewarm. As comments about Trump’s sniffing, sweating and unsteadiness persisted on Twitter, the term Adderall also began trending on the social media platform.
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