Trump’s 2012 post about ‘desperate strikes’ to boost poll numbers proves there’s always a tweet

Previous comments from Donald Trump have been resurfacing following the shocking attacks on Venezuela and a military operation that captured Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

Since then, many online have been focusing on a Trump speech from 2023, in which he said the US was close to taking control of Venezuela during his first term in office – and that they could have “taken it over” and “gotten all that oil”.

Now, people have also returned to a post from October 9, 2012, which saw Trump warned that then-president Barack Obama could launch ‘desperate’ strikes in order to boost his popularity.

The 2012 Twitter/X post from Trump said: "Now that Obama's poll numbers are in tailspin - watch for him to launch a strike in Libya or Iran. He is desperate."

User Dutchy Patrick posted the tweet, writing: "There's always a tweet..."

It’s not the first time that old posts from Trump have recirculated this year following events in his own presidency.

After Trump launched strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites in the summer of 2025, a 14-year-old post from Trump which read: "In order to get elected, @BarackObama will start a war with Iran.”

He also spoke in a 2011 clip which was re-shared online, saying: "Our president will start a war with Iran because he has absolutely no ability to negotiate. He's weak and he's ineffective.”

Taking to the lectern in Mar-a-Lago on Saturday, Trump said the US would run the South American country “until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition”.

However, when it was the turn of top military official Dan “Raizin” Caine to speak, the 79-year-old Republican was seen in the background appearing to be struggling to stay awake, closing his eyes on several occasions.

There’s also one small detail from the ‘situation room’ which came in for huge criticism online.

Why not read…?

• JD Vance criticised after stating attack on Venezuela wasn’t ‘illegal’
• Trump may have already broken his New Year's resolution

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.