{"id":2581761,"date":"2026-03-19T13:47:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T17:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-boasts-a-lot-of-military-defections-in-iran\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T13:47:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T17:47:52","slug":"trump-boasts-a-lot-of-military-defections-in-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-boasts-a-lot-of-military-defections-in-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump boasts &#8216;a lot&#8217; of military defections in Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-boasts-a-lot-of-military-defections-in-iran%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2581761&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article reports on President Trump\u2019s remarks during a bilateral meeting with Japan\u2019s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in the Oval Office. Trump claimed there are \u201ca lot of military defections\u201d in Iran and said, \u201cI don\u2019t blame them,\u201d a point echoed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who spoke of defections at all levels and predicted the Iranian regime could collapse. He also boasted about the U.S. campaign against Iran, stating that within two weeks the United states had demolished Iran\u2019s navy, air force, technology, and leadership after launching Operation Epic Fury on February 28, though Iran had still managed to disrupt the Strait of Hormuz, pushing up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-admin-seemingly-has-no-plan-to-deal-with-higher-gas-prices-touts-green-energy-alternatives-instead\/\" title=\"Biden Admin Seemingly Has No Plan To Deal With Higher Gas Prices, Touts Green Energy Alternatives Instead\">global oil prices<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Japan\u2019s prime minister condemned Iran\u2019s attacks,and Trump urged Japan to step up in protecting the Strait of Hormuz,noting that NATO partners had been reluctant to assist. Trump emphasized that the United States does not need help from others but called for greater contributions from allies. The article also notes a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-rules-ca-gov-overstepped-his-authority-with-covid-order-issues-permanent-injunction-restraining-newsom-from-further-issuing-unconstitutional-orders\/\" title=\"Judge Rules CA Gov Over...ped His Authority with Covid Order, Issues Permanent Injunction Restraining Newsom From Further Issuing Unconstitutional Orders\">joint statement<\/a> by the United Kingdom,France,Japan,Germany,Italy,and the Netherlands expressing readiness to contribute to securing the Strait of Hormuz and to participate in preparatory planning.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Trump boasts &lsquo;a lot&rsquo; of military defections in Iran: &lsquo;I don&rsquo;t blame them&rsquo;<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2537608\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"4\">Donald Trump<\/a> bragged that the military might of the United States against <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/iran\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"100\">Iran<\/a> had led to members of the Middle Eastern nation&rsquo;s military abandoning it during a Thursday bilateral in the Oval Office.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of military defections. You have a lot of military defections in Iran,&rdquo; Trump said while seated next to the visiting Japanese Prime Minister <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/sanae-takaichi\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"19890\">Sanae Takaichi<\/a>. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t blame them.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4495518\/trump-japan-iran-strikes-pearl-harbor\/\">Trump jokes he didn&#8217;t tell Japan about Iran strikes because of Pearl Harbor<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4497515\/trump-pledges-not-deploy-troops-iran\/\">Trump pledges not to deploy troops to Iran<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4496790\/trump-fixates-strait-hormuz-eyes-off-ramp-iran-war\/\">Trump fixates on Strait of Hormuz as he eyes off-ramp for Iran war<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Treasury Secretary <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/scott-bessent\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"11700\">Scott Bessent<\/a> prompted Trump&rsquo;s comments, saying during the bilateral meeting that the U.S is &ldquo;seeing defections at all levels&rdquo; in the Iranian military and that the regime will probably &ldquo;collapse&rdquo; into itself.<\/p>\n<p>Trump went on to praise the U.S.&rsquo;s demolition of Iran&rsquo;s navy and air force after the launch of Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;In literally two weeks, we&rsquo;ve demolished their navy, their air force, all technology is gone, all communication is gone, and all of the leaders are gone,&rdquo; Trump said. &ldquo;Other than that, they&rsquo;re doing quite well.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>But while Iran has been greatly weakened since the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >war began<\/a>, it has still been able to close the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/strait-of-hormuz\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"21488\">Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, leading to higher oil and gas prices globally.<\/p>\n<p>Japan&rsquo;s prime minister denounced Iran&rsquo;s attacks in her first visit to the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/section\/news\/white-house\/\" type=\"category\" id=\"125\">White House<\/a> since the war began.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Japan condemns Iran&rsquo;s actions, such as attacking the neighboring region and also the de facto or effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz,&rdquo; Takaichi said, according to a translator.<\/p>\n<p>Trump called upon Japan to &ldquo;step up&rdquo; in protecting the Strait of Hormuz after <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/nato\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"603\">NATO<\/a> allies had demurred on aiding the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Honestly, we don&rsquo;t need anything from Japan or from anyone else. But I think it&rsquo;s appropriate that people step up,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;In the case of Japan, I hear they get more than 90% of their oil through the strait. So that&rsquo;s a big business.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4497428\/uk-france-japan-germany-secure-strait-of-hormuz\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4497428\/uk-france-japan-germany-secure-strait-of-hormuz\/\">UK, FRANCE, JAPAN, GERMANY, AND OTHERS VOICE READINESS TO CONTRIBUTE TO SECURE STRAIT OF HORMUZ<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Before the bilateral, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands&nbsp;issued a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/joint-statement-from-the-leaders-of-the-united-kingdom-france-germany-italy-the-netherlands-and-japan-on-the-strait-of-hormuz-19-march-2026\">joint statement<\/a> signaling readiness to secure the critical sea lane.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We express our readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait. We welcome the commitment of nations who are engaging in preparatory planning,&rdquo; the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/black-lives-matter-faces-backlash-after-posting-twerk-video-celebrating-mlk\/\" title=\"Black Lives Matter Faces Backlash After Posting Twerk Video Celebrating MLK\">statement reads<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump: Iran defections large; I don&#8217;t blame them<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2658,"featured_media":2581762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AP26078591795934.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[50462,3823,76151,5894,3634],"class_list":["post-2581761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-foreign-policy-2","tag-iran","tag-military-defections","tag-politics","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AP26078591795934.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2581761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2658"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2581761"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2581761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2581765,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2581761\/revisions\/2581765"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2581762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2581761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2581761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2581761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}