FIFA President Gianni Infantino presents President Donald Trump with the FIFA Peace Prize at the Kennedy Center on Dec. 5, 2025.Stephanie Scarbrough/Pool/AP
Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump said that the US would strike Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT,” in a bid to “assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets.”
Trump made the statement in a Truth Social post, comparing the effort to the US military kidnapping Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January and taking over the country’s multi-billion-dollar oil industry.
The possible strikes come on the same day as the first two World Cup matches, the global soccer tournament organized by FIFA, a corrupt governing body, whose president awarded Trump the FIFA Peace Prize for his “unwavering commitment to advancing peace and unity.” Among the achievements FIFA cited: playing “a pivotal role” in establishing a ceasefire and promoting peace between Israel and Palestine.”
As I wrote in May, Trump has used his supposed success in Venezuela as fuel for subsequent takeovers attempts of Iran and Cuba. If he sees his legacy on the line—with both his and Israel’s war in Iran and the World Cup—the possible consequences look dire.
According to data from Iran’s government ministries, nearly 3,500 people have been killed since February 28, and, per a Wednesday report from the New York Times, the US military may have already hit two water facilities serving thousands of people in Iran (which many international law experts label as a war crime).
