U.S. President Donald Trump displays hypocrisy on WMDs

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Whilst the Trump administration boasts of the supposed effectiveness of U.S. strikes intended to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, the United States continues to coddle the Putin regime even as Russia uses chemical weapons against Ukraine.

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Indeed, when it comes to weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), the hypocrisy of the United States is glaring.

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U.S. President Donald Trump recently ordered the U.S. air force and navy to strike Iranian nuclear facilities. The mission, code named ‘Midnight Hammer,’ was carried out on June 22.

“Last weekend, the United States successfully carried out a massive precision strike on Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities, and it was very, very successful — it was called OBLITERATION. This incredible exercise of American strength has paved the way for peace, with a historic ceasefire agreement,” Trump claimed in a June 25 social media post.

However, Trump’s claim of “obliteration” may be an exaggeration. “The U.S. military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities last weekend did not destroy the core components of the country’s nuclear program and likely only set it back by months, according to an early U.S. intelligence assessment that was described by seven people briefed on it,” reads a June 25 report posted on the CNN website. “The assessment, which has not been previously reported, was produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon’s intelligence arm.”

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“The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) can confirm that the Iranian nuclear sites of Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan have been hit, following U.S. aerial attacks overnight,” reads a June 22 update posted on the website of the UN atomic watchdog. And the IAEA appealed for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, so that the agency could “resume its crucial verification activities in Iran, including of its stockpile of more than 400 kg of highly enriched uranium, which Agency inspectors last verified a few days before the military conflict began.”

On June 23, Trump announced a ceasefire in the Israel-Iran conflict. However, Israel and Iran traded blows after the ceasefire had been announced, provoking a profane June 24 public dressing down by a frustrated Trump.

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Iranian nuclear program

During his first term as president, Trump scrapped the Iran nuclear deal negotiated during the tenure of his predecessor, President Barack Obama. That deal — the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — placed limits on the enrichment of uranium in Iran’s civilian nuclear program.

“The rapid accumulation of highly enriched uranium is of serious concern and adds to the complexity of the issues described in this report, which the Agency cannot ignore given the potential proliferation implications,” reads a May 31, 2025, report issued by the IAEA. “Unless and until Iran assists the Agency in resolving the outstanding issues, the Agency will not be in a position to provide assurance that Iran’s nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful,” the report concludes.

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However, in the aftermath of the U.S. strikes, Iran appears to be slamming the door on the IAEA. “The national security committee of Iran’s parliament approved the general outline of a bill meant to fully suspend Tehran’s cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog,” reads a June 23rd report by Reuters.

Clearly, the U.S. strikes have complicated efforts to advance nuclear diplomacy and prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Regime change

The location of Iran’s more than 400 kg of highly enriched uranium is unknown. It is possible that the stockpiles were moved before the U.S. strikes. If that is the case, Iran could continue its pursuit of nuclear weapons in the short term.

“Trump is claiming his strikes on Iran made the American people safer. He is dangerously wrong,” Pat Ryan, Democratic Congressman and member of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, said in a June 22 post. “Iran now has every motivation to breakout and develop a nuclear weapon as quickly as possible.”

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In addition, Trump has given the authoritarian regime that rules Iran reason to fear that the United States seeks regime change. “It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change,’ but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!,” the American president said in a June 22 social media post.

Threats of regime change may motivate Tehran to cross the nuclear threshold sooner rather than later.

Russian terrorism

“I had a good meeting with @POTUS in The Hague,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, said in a June 25 social media post of his bilateral meeting with Trump at the NATO Summit. “I congratulated President Trump on the successful operation in the Middle East. It is important that the U.S. actions have weakened not only their nuclear program but also their drone production capabilities. We will continue to keep an eye on the situation.”

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Given that Russia uses Iranian attack drones and missiles to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and civilians, Zelenskyy was quick to acknowledge the U.S. strikes. “Today, I received reports on the situation in the Middle East and the Gulf region, following U.S. strikes on facilities linked to the Iranian regime’s nuclear program,” he said in a June 22 post. “A regime that has done so much to bail out Putin.”

Zelenskyy pointed out the hypocrisy of Russia’s condemnation of the U.S. strikes in Iran. “Today, Moscow is silent after the Russian army carried out a completely cynical strike using Russian-Iranian Shahed drones and missiles against civilian infrastructure in Kyiv and other cities and communities of ours,” the Ukrainian president posted on June 23.

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Meanwhile, Kira Rudik, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament and leader of the Golos Party, called out American hypocrisy. “It’s worth asking: why is U.S. involvement in the Israel–Iran conflict not called an escalation, while supporting Ukraine is?” she asked in a June 22nd post.

Chemical weapons

“Don’t forget Ukraine! Russia is more dangerous than Iran,” Marko Mihkelson, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Estonian Parliament, declared in a June 23 post. In a follow-up post, the outspoken Estonian parliamentarian questioned the U.S. president’s geopolitical reasoning.

“If Trump is ready to take decisive action against Iran’s nuclear ambitions, then why is he weak and submissive in confronting Russia’s aggression against the West?” Mihkelson posted.

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Earlier this month, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) commemorated the 100th anniversary of the international agreement banning the use of chemical weapons. “One hundred years ago, in the aftermath of World War I, the international community came together to effectively ban the use of poison gas on the battlefield,” Ambassador Fernando Arias, Director-General of the OPCW, declared in a June 17, 2025, statement. “The Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare (“the Protocol”), signed on 17 June 1925, was a response to the horrors of the widespread employment of chemical weapons during the conflict.”

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However, the OPCW official warned that chemical weapons continue to pose a threat to peace and security. “In the war in Ukraine, the Organisation has confirmed the presence of riot control agents in samples taken from the confrontation lines — agents whose use is prohibited as a means of warfare under the Convention,” Arias said.

On May 20, 2025, the European Council of the European Union imposed additional sanctions on three Russian entities in response to the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine by Russian Armed Forces. “This decision was taken in light of the reports issued by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in November 2024 and February 2025, confirming the presence of riot control agents such as chemical CS (2-Chlorobenzalmalononitrile) and related compounds in the samples collected at the frontlines in Ukraine,” reads a press statement issued by the European Council. “Such agents have been used as a method of warfare by Russian forces in Ukraine, in breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention, to which Russia is a State Party.”

Conclusion

In sharp contrast to Trump’s powerful military response to Iran’s nuclear program, the American president seeks to cultivate economic ties with Russia even as it uses WMDs against Ukraine.

Follow Geoffrey P. Johnston on BlueSky @geoffypjohnston.bsky.social

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