A Film of Disinformation and Chaos
Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another has just been awarded the Oscar for Best Picture. This film is a multi-generational story centered around political resistance, depicting people fighting for real causes despite overwhelming odds. It is a violent, messy, and emotionally charged narrative that has captured the attention of critics and audiences alike.
In contrast, the Trump administration’s version of events can be described as One Lie After Another, a narrative that is not only violent and messy but also far worse. There are no Oscars, no standing ovations, and a zero percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics worldwide have panned this administration, and audiences are increasingly frustrated with the lack of clarity and truth in its messaging. Unlike Anderson’s film, this one is costing actual lives.
Since Operation Epic Fury began on February 28, 2026, the American public has been subjected to what can only be described as a thick, opaque fog of disinformation. Every press briefing, social media post, and statement from the administration has been a performance of fabrication. It is a disaster of a disaster movie, with an ending that is sure to be an epic disaster.
The lies come so quickly and often—like the poof, parody, and slapstick of a Naked Gun movie—all delivered deadpan. Because of this frequency, it is difficult to keep up with all the falsehoods. However, we will highlight just one lie from the main characters.
The administration started with offensive trailers that blended real war footage with video game, movie, and cartoon clips, as well as athletes, to promote the war in Iran. Critics, including Pope Leo and former NFL players, condemned these trailers, accusing the White House of reducing tragic human conflict to a video game and sanitizing it into propaganda.
The reality of the war is far more brutal. There is no “spoiler alert” for this review since the lies told about this war will live in infamy.
Donald Trump is the star, executive producer, casting agent, costume designer, and scriptwriter of this production. He leads with more lies, falsehoods, and fairy tales than can fit into a single take. Throughout the film, Trump lies constantly, often contradicting one lie with another. This is his way of confusing the viewer, stripping away any semblance of rationality, and muddying the plot at every turn.
One of the dumbest statements made by a sitting president was on March 10, when Trump claimed that Iran was responsible for a missile strike that killed schoolchildren in Minab, Iran, and alleged that Iran possessed American-made Tomahawk missiles. The problem? Tomahawks are U.S.-manufactured precision weapons available only to the United States and a small number of close allies. Iran doesn’t have them, and has never had them. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the accusation “beyond asinine.”
Another example of Trump’s misleading rhetoric came on March 16, when he said he was “shocked” that Iran retaliated by targeting U.S. allies in the Gulf. “Nobody expected it,” he said. But this is not true. The intelligence community, regional analysts, allied governments, and anyone who has spent fifteen minutes studying Iranian strategic doctrine since 1979 would have expected such a move.
Co-Stars and Their Role in the Chaos
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who would be an extra in Animal House, has been firing off fibs fast and furious. One of the most stomach-churning moments of this already grim production was when Hegseth claimed that parents and spouses of service members killed in action, “family after family,” encouraged him to “finish” the Iran operation. A father whose son died in the early stages of Operation Epic Fury went public to say he had never had such a conversation with Hegseth. Lying about families of the fallen may be the most loathsome act in the entire film.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio brings his own flair to the chaos. When mediators in back-channel negotiations reportedly making real progress on a new framework just before the bombs fell, Rubio dismissed the entire effort as “failed negotiations.” Reporters found the opposite: multiple intermediaries said a deal had been closer than at any point in the previous two years. Rubio either didn’t know or knew and said the opposite anyway.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has wandered into scenes where he clearly doesn’t belong. On March 19, Bessent claimed the U.S. was not targeting Iranian energy infrastructure, a statement directly contradicted by reports of strikes on Kharg Island’s oil hub. The claim also conflicted with reporting about military activity near the Strait of Hormuz, another attempt to mislead the public.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright deserves his own credit line for a performance combining false optimism with spectacular self-contradiction, sometimes within the same breath. Wright declared on television that the war would “certainly” end within weeks and that gas prices would fall along with it. Here we are approaching four weeks with no end in sight, and gas prices are up roughly a dollar per gallon, and climbing. When pressed, Wright conceded in the same interview that “there are no guarantees in wars at all,” apparently unaware he had just demolished his own prediction.
White House negotiator Steve Witkoff has a cameo. On March 7, Witkoff claimed Iran was “probably a week away” from acquiring industrial-grade material for a nuclear weapon, despite prior claims that Iran’s capabilities had been “obliterated” months earlier.
The Final Verdict
What Trump and his cast have produced in recent weeks is something else entirely—a chaotic, improvised, fact-free performance that has confused allies, emboldened adversaries, and left the American public with no reliable way to understand a war being waged in their name. Zero stars. Do not recommend.
And the most unfortunate part: this is one film we can’t walk out of.
