Donald Trump 'underestimated Iranian capability', foreign policy expert warns - 'There'll be much more fire and fury!'

Susanna Siddell
Sun, 05 Apr 2026 13:08:38 +0000

Donald Trump was accused of "underestimating Iran's military capability" after the US President hailed the rescue mission of a US fighter pilot from Iran.

The airman was rescued by US special forces after the jet carrying crew members was targeted during a "heavy firefight", officials confirmed.

The rescue mission proved successful just as tensions in the Iran war continue to escalate, with Mr Trump threatening fresh strikes on the country's energy infrastructure as his deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz nears its end.

But Iran has warned Tehran could turn the Middle East into a "swamp" after the 47th President threatened to ramp up assaults on the region.

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Joining GB News this afternoon, US foreign policy analyst, Dr Jack Clayton, has claimed Mr Trump has "underestimated" Iranian forces, after it was able to shoot down the fighter jet on Friday.

"Yes, there's been a very successful extraction operation, and I know the Iranians will have been trying to get to this missing airman first, but the Americans have managed it," host Tom Harwood started.

"But frankly, it raises the question, how does an F-15, state-of-the-art fighter jet, get shot down in the first place?"

"Absolutely," Dr Clayton responded, adding the loss in the first place "brings into question America's superiority in the air".

He added: "And I wouldn't say that Iran's capabilities themselves are especially sophisticated...

"This is really something, I'm afraid, once again, that people like Trump and certainly Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has perhaps underestimated in terms of Iran's capabilities."

The GB News presenter went on to argue the Defence Secretary and the Commander-in-Chief could have felt "buoyed" by their successful mission in Venezuela earlier this year - a shocking yet successful US military operation that lasted mere minutes.

"This has been much, much stickier in Iran," Tom weighed in. "What does that mean for the next 24 hours in this conflict?

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"Donald Trump is saying that there's going to be a lot more fire and fury. Will Iran, I suppose, buttress itself up and react harshly or acquiesce?"

Dr Clayton said he was "sure" there would be strong retaliation from Tehran, although Mr Trump continues to be burdened with a "broader strategic problem" over the Strait of Hormuz.

The key waterway has been a cause of great consternation across the globe, with Iran's blockade of the maritime passage sending energy costs soaring.

As a result, the analyst set out two options to reopen the Strait.

"If it's going to be a military one, we are really talking about the possibility of an occupation, and we're talking about ground troops then, or it's going to have to be something negotiated," he explained.

"And Trump at times has been saying that he's not going to really even do that," the expert added as an aside.

"He's at times left it to Nato allies who we know who he's been very critical of recently. And so it does leave a lot of uncertainty."

Instead, the analyst suspects Mr Trump deliberately deploys some "strategic ambiguity" - using unpredictability as a tactic in the war.

"It is worth pointing out as well, that he likes to rhetorically and even at times militarily, escalate things on a weekend," Dr Clayton noted.

"He's always really rather concerned about the markets, but that's something as well that the Iranians are probably picked up on as well.

"And I think they've probably factored that in into thinking that Trump has maybe a little bit of a glass jaw when it comes to concerns about the markets and what he'd actually do."