Three weeks into the war with Iran, oil prices are hovering around $105 a barrel, and the Strait of Hormuz remains sealed off. Amid the turmoil, President Trump, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned from his Florida resort, made a startling claim: he said he had predicted the current crisis. He then went further, asserting that he had also foreseen Osama bin Laden’s attack on the World Trade Center a year before it happened.
Trump was aboard Air Force One, traveling from West Palm Beach, Florida, to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. Speaking to reporters, the president said he had warned that Iran could use the Strait of Hormuz as a strategic weapon. He then returned to one of his most prominent talking points:
“I predicted Osama bin Laden would knock out the World Trade Center. I made that prediction a year before he did it.”
Trump’s bin Laden story isn’t new. He has been repeating it for more than ten years, and fact-checkers have called it out just as often. In his 2000 book, The America We Deserve, he mentions bin Laden as one of several possible dangers. Still, he never actually predicted an attack on the World Trade Center, and he never said the U.S. should target bin Laden specifically.
The claim about the Strait of Hormuz landed even more forcefully in light of what had already emerged. CNN reported that Trump’s Pentagon and National Security Council seriously underestimated how far Iran might go in attempting to close the Strait during their planning. Several sources said an analysis that had been central to decision-making in previous administrations was largely set aside this time.
During briefings with lawmakers, Trump officials acknowledged that they had not fully considered the possibility, according to CNN. One former official said planning for this type of scenario had long been “a bedrock principle of US national security policy for decades.”
After this statement, the reaction on social media was a mix of disbelief, criticism, and biting humor.
The Internet Reacts Astounded to Trump’s Future Predictions
The revelation quickly ignited debate online, with many users questioning the logic behind the decision.
“Okay, Nostradamus, predict this war outcome.”
“If he knew, why didn’t he make plans to prevent it?”
“He predicted it, but did nothing to stop it, flex.”
“So basically, before launching strikes, Donald Trump was told Iran might shut down the Strait of Hormuz — and he went ahead anyway, thinking Tehran would back down. Now the strait’s closure is causing oil chaos, and everyone’s like ‘oops.”
At the moment, the Strait of Hormuz is shut down. Oil prices have surged to $105 a barrel. Thirteen Americans have lost their lives. And as the crisis continues to unfold, the president, seated aboard Air Force One after returning from a Florida retreat, tells reporters he saw it coming. History is unfolding in real time, and people are scrutinizing every detail.
