Trump Posts AI-Generated Video Threatening Kharg Island, US Official Says No Strike Occurred

President Trump posted AI-generated videos to Truth Social depicting explosions at Kharg Island, Iran's primary oil export terminal, warning it would be 'blown to smithereens' in retaliation for Iran's strikes on Jordan and the UAE. A US official later told Reuters no actual strike on Kharg Island had occurred, and an Iranian energy official dismissed the threat as 'laughable.'

Why this matters. A real strike on Kharg Island, which handles the bulk of Iran's roughly 1.5 million barrel-per-day oil exports, would sharply escalate the conflict and threaten global crude supply; the gap between the threat and confirmed inaction is itself shaping oil-market volatility and Iranian officials' response.