Trump boasts US will ‘totally demolish’ Iran’s forces as Lionel Messi and Inter Miami teammates awkwardly stand behind him

The president made the comments at the top of the White House event to honor Inter Miami’s 2025 victory in the MLS Cup NewsWorldAmericasUS politicsTrump boasts US will ‘totally demolish’ Iran’s forces as Lionel Messi and Inter Miami teammates awkwardly stand behind himThe president made the comments at the top of the White House event to honor Inter Miami’s 2025 victory in the MLS CupMike Bedigan in New York Thursday 05 March 2026 23:41 GMTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popoverTrump on Iran: "we want to fight more than they do"Your support helps us to tell the storyRead moreSupport NowFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. 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We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read morePresident Donald Trump has boasted of “totally demolishing” Iranian military forces as world famous soccer star Lionel Messi and his Miami teammates stood awkwardly behind him.“The United States military, together with the wonderful Israeli partners, continues to totally demolish the enemy far ahead of schedule and at levels that people have never seen before,” the president said Thursday.Trump made the comments at the top of the White House event to honor Inter Miami’s 2025 victory in the MLS Cup. The winning squad, including Luis Suárez and coach Javier Mascherano were present, while Messi entered the room with the president.“We're destroying more of Iran's missiles and drone capability every single hour, knocking them out like nobody thought was possible,” the president said, as the players fidgeted uncomfortably.open image in galleryDonald Trump boasted of ‘totally demolishing’ Iranian military forces as world famous soccer star Lionel Messi and his Miami teammates stood awkwardly behind him at a White House event Thursday (AP)“As soon as they set off a missile, within four minutes, the launcher gets hit, they don't know what's happening, but we have the greatest military anywhere in the world, their navy is gone – 24 ships in three days. That's a lot of ships.”Trump went on to justify the campaign, nicknamed Operation Epic Fury – which Iran claims has killed 1,200 of its people – saying: “We had really no choice, they were gonna hit us if we didn't hit them, because they're crazy.""We blew up their party,” he said, adding that Iranian officials were now “calling” to ask about a deal. “I said, you're being a little bit late, and we want to fight now more than they do.”open image in galleryTrump made the comments at the top of the White House event to honor Inter Miami’s 2025 victory in the MLS Cup (AP)open image in galleryTrump holds a signed soccer ball and Tudor Black Bay watch at an event to honor the 2025 Major League Soccer champions Inter Miami CF in the East Room of the White House (AP)After giving brief remarks on the economy and operations in Cuba, singling out Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump finally turned to the players – boasting that he was the only president who had been able to get Messi to the Oval Office.“It's my distinct privilege to say what no American president has ever had the chance to say before. Welcome to the White House, Lionel Messi,” he declared, adding that his youngest son, Barron Trump, had been especially excited about the event."My son said, 'Dad, you know who's going to be there today? I said, ‘No, I got a lot of things going on.' He said, 'Messi,' I said, 'Really?' He's a big fan. He's a big fan of yours. He thinks you're just a great person,” Trump said to the Argentinian superstar, who smiled and nodded politely.open image in galleryAfter giving brief remarks on the economy and operations in Cuba, Trump finally turned to the players – boasting that he was the only president who had been able to get Messi to the Oval Office (AP)Trump continued: “I think you [and Barron] got to meet a little while. He's a big soccer fan, but he's a tremendous fan of yours. And a gentleman named Ronaldo. We have Cristiano – is great. You're great to play some, some big champions, some great, great athletes in that sport, and people that really love what they're doing, and they're doing it well."And it's an honor for us and everybody at the White House to be honoring you today."Other members of Trump’s cabinet showed up for the ceremony including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Transportatio