Deborah Meaden has caused controversy on social media after using her platform to publicly mock and appear to criticise President Donald Trump following US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
President Trump announced that the US had started "major combat operations" in Iran on Saturday morning after failing to reach a deal about the country's nuclear programme.
He accused the Iranian regime of waging an "unending campaign of bloodshed and mass murder targeting the United States" and claimed that its leaders had rejected every chance to renounce its nuclear ambitions.
"When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will probably be your only chance for generations," President Trump urged the Iranian people in his video statement about the operation.
Donald Trump confirmed major US military operation in Iran | TRUTH SOCIALThe office of Iran's supreme leader and the presidential office in Tehran were reportedly targeted, as well as military sites across the country.
Soon after, Iran launched a series of retaliatory strikes against Israel, according to its military, and there have also been reported strikes across the region in Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed the UK was not involved in the attacks which rocked five Iranian cities, including the capital, Tehran.
A UK Government spokesman said: "Iran must never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and that is why we have continually supported efforts to reach a negotiated solution.
Deborah Meaden took to X to share her views on the strikes
| BBC
“Our immediate priority is the safety of UK nationals in the region and we will provide them with consular assistance, available 24/7."
Adding to the conversation online, Ms Meaden first hit out at the president by reposting an old tweet of his dated back to 2013.
President Trump posted on social media on November 11, 2013: "Remember that I predicted a long time ago that President Obama will attack Iran because of his inability to negotiate properly-not skilled!" (sic)
"Oh.." Ms Meaden sarcastically wrote alongside the post on Saturday morning.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Oh… and this one… https://t.co/stY1lf8vDi
— Deborah Meaden 🇺🇦 (@DeborahMeaden) February 28, 2026
The Dragons' Den star then reposted a second tweet by President Trump published way back on October 22, 2012.
In the social media post, Trump, who was four years away from winning the keys to the White House for his first presidency at the time, wrote: "Don't let Obama play the Iran card in order to start a war in order to get elected--be careful Republicans!" (sic)
Ms Meaden shared the 14-year-old X post with a message of her own. "Oh… and this one…" she mocked.
The businesswoman also reposted another X user who shared another post of Trump's from 2013 in which he criticised former President Obama's "inability to negotiate properly" with Iran.
Keir Starmer said British planes 'in the sky today' over the Middle East
| PAHowever, Ms Meaden soon found herself on the receiving end of a flood of complaints from X users
Political commentator Kellie-Jay Keen hit back, including a screenshot of Ms Meaden's previous posts about Iran and its regime.
"This is how much you’ve talked about the Iranian regime killing 50,000 unarmed men, women and children. You are quite disgusting," she typed.
Elsewhere, a second X user slammed the BBC star: "17 years ago.. you’re really on a role.. imagine having so much hate for a leader you look back 17 years to try and prove a point.."
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, was targeted
|REUTERS
"Have you not got businesses to run, Debroah, rather than pulling up 15yr old tweets?" a third questioned. "Notice how everyone is saying it’s bad apart from Iranians who are all supporting Trump."
"To be fair that was 14 years ago I dare say we've all changed our opinion on something we said 14 years ago," a fourth weighed in, before a fifth concurred: "How can you value your time this low? You could literally be doing whatever you wanted without limitation and you do this.."
And another disagreed with Ms Meaden's political point-scoring: "That was nearly 14 years ago. Things have changed a lot since then. For instance, you used to be respected by lots of people...."
However, the investor did receive some support from her followers, with some social media users similarly criticising Trump following the strikes. "Imagine the mainstream media reaction here if Keir Starmer had done something like that," one fellow critics commented in response to Ms Meaden's post.
And a second also hit out: "Problem with dictators, it's never about policy, it's what suits their narrative on any given day." (sic)