Trump shares ‘West Wing’ clip touting virtue of ‘disproportionate response’ after US retaliated against Iran

US President Donald Trump posts on Truth Social a scene from the TV series “West Wing” that touts the virtue of a “disproportionate response” to an attack on the US.

The post comes hours after the US retaliated against Iran for downing an American military helicopter in a drone strike that ended without any casualties.

Trump reposted US Central Command’s announcement on “self-defense” strikes that the US took overnight against Iranian targets and then attached the clip from West Wing in which the fictional US President Jed Bartlett demands his aides draw up a “disproportionate response” to the Syrian downing of a US military plane after they initially come to him with plans deemed more proportionate.

What Trump doesn’t show is the subsequent scene in the episode where Bartlett agrees to approve the more proportionate response after recognizing that the alternative he was initially pushing for would have led to many civilian deaths.

Trump declared yesterday that the US “must” respond to the helicopter downing, but telegraphed the development in a manner that indicated that he was opting for a measured retaliation that Tehran would know was coming.

But Iran responded by targeting several US military bases in the region this morning

Hours later, Trump indicated that the back and forth wasn’t over, posting on Truth Social that Iran was taking too long to negotiate a deal and that now it “will have to pay the price.”