Donald Trump is facing backlash after sharing a graphic video of a military airstrike on his social media platform, Truth Social.
The footage, posted on Friday evening (April 4), appears to show a drone strike targeting what Trump claims were Houthi rebels gathered in Yemen. In the video, roughly 70 individuals are seen standing in a circle before an airstrike hits, leaving dozens of bodies around a smoking crater.
Trump, 78, captioned the video: “These Houthis gathered for instructions on an attack. Oops, there will be no attack by these Houthis! They will never sink our ships again!”
He claimed the group had been preparing to launch a strike against commercial vessels in the Red Sea via the Suez Canal.
The Houthis – an Iran-backed militant group rooted in Zaydi Shia Islam – have long opposed Israel and the U.S., and have been accused of targeting international shipping lanes in recent months.
Just days earlier, Trump declared that the Houthis had been “decimated” by U.S.-led strikes: “Many of their Fighters and Leaders are no longer with us. We hit them every day and night — Harder and harder… The real pain is yet to come, for both the Houthis and their sponsors in Iran.”
However, Trump’s latest post has drawn sharp criticism online, with many accusing him of celebrating civilian deaths.
One user on X (formerly Twitter) wrote: “It was a tribal gathering. They were just villagers celebrating Eid ul-Fitr, and you bombed them.”
Another added: “You promised to end the war. Instead, you escalated it.”
A third person wrote: “I can’t believe the President of the United States is posting something like this…”
The White House has not commented on the viral post, but earlier in the week, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that Iran’s influence was “incredibly weakened” following a series of targeted U.S. strikes.
“They’ve taken out critical Houthi leaders launching attacks on naval and commercial vessels,” Leavitt said. “This operation will not stop until freedom of navigation in this region is restored.”
According to the White House, more than 200 coordinated strikes were carried out in a single day.
As tensions in the region escalate, many are now questioning the ethics – and optics – of Trump’s decision to share such a violent clip with his followers.
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