Pentagon says winning is "not an option" in Trump's Iran war

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth giving remarks at a 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2025, in Arlington, Virginia. |
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The Department of Defense posted and quickly deleted an image that showed an image of U.S. soldiers and the word “Winning” with the caption, “It’s not an option.” Numerous social media commenters mocked the Trump administration for the post and connected it with the military’s current warfare in Iran, which has now been going on for over five months.

“The Department of Defense appears to have deleted this post after getting absolutely clowned online for accidentally declaring that ‘WINNING’ is ‘not an option,’” the progressive media outlet MeidasTouch noted in a public Facebook post published last Tuesday.

Approximately 63% of Americans are feeling “very/somewhat badly” about how the conflict with Iran is going for the US, according to a CBS News poll released last Sunday. At least 18 soldiers have died and 624 have been injured since the start of the conflict, CNN reported, and US weapons stockpiles have been rapidly depleting during its stead.

Iran has kept the crucial waterway, the Strait of Hormuz, closed, sending US fuel prices skyrocketing. Meanwhile, the US president continues to threaten to commit war crimes against Iran’s citizens by targeting civilian infrastructure in bombing campaigns.

Numerous social media commenters clowned Trump’s Department of Defense over its now-deleted post.