The Iranian Islamic regime hates President Donald Trump with the intensity of a thousand suns. That’s obvious from its threats to kill him and attempts to do so, as well as from its ongoing bellicosity toward the nation that Iran’s bloodthirsty rulers call “the Great Satan.” And yet two regime officials recently deliberately appropriated several of Trump’s trademark phrases. It’s mockery, sure — but it also indicates something more than that.
Trump wrote on Monday morning: “I AM PLEASED TO REPORT THAT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND THE COUNTRY OF IRAN, HAVE HAD, OVER THE LAST TWO DAYS, VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS REGARDING A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF OUR HOSTILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST.”
Four and a half hours after Trump posted that, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, shot back a heated denial: “No negotiations have been held with the US, and fakenews is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped.”
“Fakenews”? Ghalibaf has only a shaky command of the English language; as he was decrying “fakenews,” he also asserted improbably that the “Iranian people demand complete and remorseful punishment of the aggressors.” The Iranian people actually hate the Islamic regime, and the punishment Ghalibaf wants to see would be “remorseless,” not “remorseful,” but where did he get this word (actually two words, but one in his usage) “fakenews”? Clearly it comes from Trump himself, the man whom Iranian officials hate only slightly less than American leftists do.
Ghalibaf’s use of Trump’s dismissive term “fake news” followed another Iranian official’s much deeper dive into Trumpspeak. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesman for the Iranian Armed Forces’ Central Command, said Sunday in fairly good English: “Hey Trump! You are fired! You are familiar with this sentence. Thank you for your attention to this matter. The Central Headquarters of Khatam-al Anbiya.” That’s the unified command headquarters of the Iranian Armed Forces.
Spokesperson for the Iranian Armed Forces’ Central Command Ebrahim Zolfaghari:
“Hey Trump! You are fired! You are familiar with this sentence. Thank you for your attention to this matter. The Central Headquarters of Khatam-al Anbiya” pic.twitter.com/DSv5L4qblv
— Faytuks News (@Faytuks) March 22, 2026
Yes, both Ghalibaf and Zolfaghari were mocking Trump, but they also unwittingly demonstrated how much they respect him. Zolfaghari can think of no more effective way to show that the Iranian regime is unbowed, and even cheerfully resolute, in the face of the onslaught from the U.S. and Israel than to purloin characteristic phrases from the leader of the Islamic regime’s most hated enemy. For him, Trump is clearly the quintessential contemporary embodiment of strength and confidence in the face of foes who seem to have all the power.
The Iranian mullahs and their subordinates tend to see the world wholly in terms of strength and weakness. When John Kerry approached them, offering the grab-bag of appeasements, inducements and bribes that constituted Obama’s nuclear deal, the Iranian leaders were only too happy to accept. That didn’t mean, however, that they had any respect for the subservient ones who were approaching them to pay the Dangeld. Likewise, when Old Joe Biden sent a few more billions their way even after the Iran-financed Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas jihad attacks against Israel, Iran’s rulers displayed nothing but contempt for the old figurehead and his administration, although they were happy to take the money.
Trump, in contrast, withdrew from the nuclear deal. He has made it abundantly clear at this point that the Islamic Republic’s regional adventurism will no longer be tolerated, much less bankrolled. And now his bombing campaigns threaten the continued existence of the Iranian regime itself.
Related: Trump: People Should Believe Iran When It Says ‘Death to America’
The Islamic Republic’s top dogs respect strength as much as they despise weakness. They don’t hate Trump any less, but they clearly have a grudging respect for him, and that respect shows itself in their imitation of his catch phrases — imitation being, as everyone knows, the sincerest form of flattery.
And so even in the hour of the Islamic Republic’s gravest crisis, Iranian officials who never put on a long face and imitated John Kerry are trying to show how strong they are in the face of adversity by talking like Donald Trump. It is a fascinating reaction to the unexpected and rare specter of a strong man in the Oval Office. After eight excruciating years of Barack Obama and four of Old Joe Biden, and realpolitik players of both parties before that going back to the beginning of the Islamic Republic, Tehran’s mullahs and their lackeys finally have to deal with a strong man. It’s about time.
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