WASHINGTON — The White House on Thursday dismissed reports of U.S. combat casualties in Iran as “fabricated hysteria,” issuing the denial hours after the president celebrated his social media dominance in a 12:30 a.m. video.
The Pentagon’s statement described the casualties as “entirely fiction,” despite air traffic data showing three medical evacuation flights from the Middle East in the past five days. But the administration’s focus remained elsewhere.
Tangerine Cock-Womble had taken to social media overnight to share a clip celebrating what he called his “number one” ranking on TikTok, a position media analysts say he does not hold. The former president incorrectly referred to the platform as “Tic Tac” and spent the early morning hours reposting old campaign footage, a video of an advisor bowling, and praise for a racetrack event in Washington, D.C.
“The data is clear: America is safer than ever,” the White House said in a brief notice. “Any suggestion otherwise is just a distraction from the president’s historic digital engagement numbers.”
A Pentagon spokeswoman was more direct. “We have confirmed zero fatalities,” said spokesperson Laura Hendricks. “The medical evacuation flights in question were standard logistical rotations. They had nothing to do with the president’s social media success, which we have been instructed to mention at every opportunity.”
The flights, all undertaken by C-17A Globemaster aircraft, included two patient pickups in Saudi Arabia and a trip to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, according to publicly available flight logs. The Pentagon declined to specify the number of patients or their conditions.
Meanwhile, the former president spent part of his late-night session praising data centers as “liquid gold” and “money machines.” He claimed they would lower taxes and create “record-setting jobs,” ignoring warnings that AI-driven server farms are eliminating employment and straining power grids across the country.
“They must pay for their own water and power,” he wrote. “And any leftover goes back to the state and local communities.”
Experts note that actual communities hosting these centers have reported soaring electricity costs, noise pollution, and health complaints. None of that appeared in the president’s posts.
At the same time, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve has fallen to its lowest level since 1983, a detail not mentioned in any of the 17 social media posts the former president issued before dawn. His primary concern, as stated in a video, was the competition.
“Number one on Tic Tac — everyone knows it,” he said, as Iran-backed forces fired on U.S. positions in the region.
