Trump Appears To Call Out Military Brass for ‘Proportional Response’ To Iran Downing Helicopter

AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

President Donald Trump appeared to call out U.S. military brass over what he believes was an insufficient response to Iran shooting down an Army helicopter.

On Tuesday, the U.S. launched strikes on Iran, which shot down an Apache helicopter the day before. The crewmembers were rescued in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran closed after the U.S. and Israel launched the war in February. It was just the latest exchange of fire between the two countries, which are currently in a so-called ceasefire.

Hours after the U.S. response, Trump, on Truth Social, posted a screenshot of a tweet from U.S. Central Command.

“U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces began launching self-defense strikes against Iran at 5 p.m. ET today at the Commander in Chief’s direction, in response to yesterday’s downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter,” the tweet said. “The mission is a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression.”

The president’s post contained no text beyond the CENTCOM screenshot. But immediately after, Trump reposted the screenshot along with a clip from The West Wing in which President Jed Bartlet slams the very idea of a “proportional response” while discussing U.S. retaliation against Syria with Admiral Percy Fitzwallace and Chief of Staff Leo McGarry:

FITZWALLACE: All three scenarios are comprehensive, meet the obligations of proportional response and pose minimal threat to U.S. personal and assets. To turn our attention to scenario one, or Pericles One, to use its code name–

BARTLET: What is the virtue of a proportional response?

FITZWALLACE I’m sorry?

BARTLET: What’s the virtue of a proportional response? Why’s it good? They hit an airplane, so we hit a transmitter, right? That’s a proportional response.

FITZWALLACE Sir, in the case of Pericles…

BARTLET: They hit a barracks, so we hit two transmitters?

FITZWALLACE: That’s roughly it, sir.

BARTLET: It’s what we do. I mean this is what we do.

MCGARRY: Yes sir, it’s what we do, it’s what we’ve always done.

BARTLET: Well, if it’s what we do, if it’s what we’ve always done, don’t they know we’re going to do it?

MCGARRY: Sir, if you would turn your attention to Pericles One.

BARTLET: I have turned my attention to Pericles One, it’s two ammo dumps, an abandoned railroad bridge and a Syrian intelligence agency.

FITZWALLACE: Those are four high rated military targets, sir.

BARTLET: But they know we’re going to do that, they know we’re going to do that. Those areas have been abandoned for four days. We know that from the satellites. We have the intelligence.

MCGARRY: Sir.

BARTLET: They did that, so we did this, it’s the cost of doing business, it’s been factored in, right?

MCGARRY: Mr. President–

BARTLET: Am I right or am I missing something here?

FITZWALLACE: No sir, you’re right sir.

BARTLET: Then I ask again, what is the virtue of a proportional response?

FITZWALLACE: It isn’t virtuous Mr. President. It’s all there is sir.

BARTLET: It is not all there is.

MCGARRY:  Sir, Admiral Fitzwallace–

FITZWALLACE: Excuse me Leo, but pardon me Mr. President, just what else is there?

BARTLET: A disproportional response. Let the word ring forth from this time and this place, you kill an American, any American, we don’t come back with a proportional response, we come back [bangs fist on table] with total disaster!

A minute after that post, the real president reposted one user who tagged the White House and wrote, “The mission is a proportional response?”

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