Trump vows to retaliate 'hard' against Iran in expletive-laden warning

Trump says Iran will 'get a beating' in retaliation for attack on bases in JordanPosted Thu 30 Jul 2026 at 12:25amThu 30 Jul 2026 at 12:25amPresident Donald Trump said the US military would Iran "hard" after a missile attack against US bases in Jordan. (Reuters: Evelyn Hockstein)In short:Donald Trump says the US military would be "hitting [Iran] hard, they're going to get a beating".It comes after Iran launched a surprise attack on a US base in Jordan.What's next?If Mr Trump follows through on his latest threat, it would risk returning the region to all-out war.Donald Trump has unleashed another fiery threat against Iran after a missile barrage launched towards American forces in Jordan. In a phone interview with Fox News, which was not broadcast, the US president reportedly said the US would "beat the f****** s***" out of Iran in response to the surprise strikes on Tuesday night, local time.He added that the US military would be "hitting them hard, they're going to get a beating".Mr Trump paused US attacks against Iran over the weekend, after 13 straight days of strikes.In turn, Iran had stopped launching retaliatory strikes against American personnel and bases across the Middle East, including in the Gulf states and in Jordan.A number of US media outlets had reported the decision to halt strikes was made, in part, because of concerns that interceptor missiles used to defend American bases and allies from Iranian attacks were running low — something US officials publicly rejected.The aftermath of an airstrike on a Popular Mobilization Forces base in Mosul, Iraq. (AP: Farid Abdulwahed)But on Tuesday, local time, the US joined with Saudi Arabian forces to hit Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq, which US Central Command (CENTCOM) said had been directed by Tehran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to attack Saudi and US forces in the region."The unwarranted attacks against US forces were not successful," CENTCOM said in a statement."The IRGC and its terrorist proxies must cease these attacks to avoid further US military response."The Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) had said at least 20 of its members were killed and 32 injured in the US and Saudi strikes.If Mr Trump followed through on his latest threat, it would shatter the current calm in the region and once again risk returning the region to all-out war.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump met face to face on Tuesday for the first time since the war began. (X: Benjamin Netanyahu)The US president had said he was prepared to attack Iran again if negotiations on a lasting peace deal remained stalled, while Iran had accused the US of consistently undermining progress toward any agreement by making repeated threats.On Tuesday, in Washington DC, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held his first face-to-face meeting with Mr Trump since the start of the war in late February.Despite being one of the instigators of the war, Israel had held fire and refrained from joining the US in attacking Iran after the interim deal to end the war, signed in June, collapsed.That had been triggered by the ongoing dispute over control of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow and busy shipping channel which Iran has blocked for much of the war.Hours before the US and Saudi strikes, a new proposal by Oman on management of the waterway had been rejected by Iranian negotiators.