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Donald Trump hailed the United States' military strength in Iran while standing next to a giant Easter Bunny on Monday, sending many on the internet into fits of laughter.
Some social media users were left awestruck and confused at the bizarre spectacle, which saw the US President threatening to bomb the Islamic Republic to ashes while next to the enormous brown rabbit, who cheerfully clapped and waved at the crowd.
He delivered the address on the Truman balcony next to First Lady Melania Trump, as hundreds of children descended onto the White House South Lawn for the annual Egg Roll.
A few hours later at an astonishing press conference, Trump declared he would bombard Tehran so hard he would send it back to the 'Stone Ages' if the all-important Strait of Hormuz wasn't reopened by his deadline of 8pm ET tonight – or 1am BST tomorrow.
'The Easter Bunny when he realised he accidentally declared war on Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC] by standing next to Trump,' one X user jokingly wrote, commenting on a photograph of the rabbit waiting in the wings to be introduced by the president.
'Trump taunting the IRGC while standing next to the Easter Bunny,' another user remarked.
'I want to hear what the Easter Bunny thinks about all this,' one person said, commenting after another bewildered account concluded the speech was 'the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen'.
The former spokesman of the Israeli government, Eylon Levy, reacted to the surreal moment, telling his followers: 'The President of the United States addresses the nation about the Islamic Republic of Iran, flanked by the Easter Bunny.
'We are living in a simulation.'
Donald Trump hailed the United States' military strength in Iran while standing next to a giant Easter Bunny on Monday, sending many on the internet into fits of laughter
Other people on the internet, perplexed by the presence of the beaming rabbit as Trump touted his military operation, questioned whether they had lost touch with reality.
'Not sure I’ve taken something hallucinogenic, but I’m sure I see a giant bunny alongside #trump ??' one wrote.
'Am I stoned right now? I must be stoned,' another declared.
Sharing the video of the address, one account tweeted: 'Imagine being an Iranian general watching this clip with all your senior officers in a military briefing.'
The episode encouraged some on X to remember and reshare a viral moment from the 2022 Easter Egg Roll, featuring former President Joe Biden's interaction with another Easter Bunny.
Clips were shared widely on Monday of the infamous moment, in which a White House aide, dressed as the lady Easter Bunny, shooed the aging president away from reporters who were quizzing him about foreign policy.
At last year's Egg Roll, Trump made a mocking reference to the viral video, telling reporters: 'Do you remember the bunny with Joe Biden? Remember?
'Do you remember when the bunny took Joe Biden out? He's not taking Trump out. That was a beautiful moment, when the bunny saved Joe Biden.'
On Monday, CBC’s Willy Lowry reacted to the jarring contrast between Trump's allusions to bombing Iran and the jovial childhood mascot to his left:
'Really quite a juxtaposition - the president there speaking about incredibly grave matters while, again, the Easter Bunny was next to him,' he said.
The president used the address to update attendees about the ongoing conflict, including a daring rescue mission over the weekend to save an airman lost behind enemy lines.
'What about the rescue that took place yesterday, that's something that you rarely see,' Trump told the crowd, adding that it had been pulled off despite a 'very strong' enemy.
'Not so strong like they were about a month ago,' Trump said, referring to the devastating US-Israeli strikes that have decimated Iran's leadership since they were launched on February 28.
'In fact, right now they are not too strong at all in my opinion, but we are soon going to find out, aren't we?' he said, perhaps referencing an upcoming bomb campaign to pummel Tehran's energy infrastructure.
As the president walked through the lawn, he divulged a number of details about the ongoing war - instead of saving it for his 1pm press conference.
In one instance, he told reporters that he tried to get guns to the people of Iran so they could help him enact regime change in the country, but the plan went sideways after the weapons were stolen by an intermediary.
'You know we sent some guns ... they were supposed to go to the people so they could fight back against these thugs ... but the people that they sent them to kept them.'
'I am very upset with a certain group of people and they will pay a big price for that,' he added.
Reports earlier this year indicated that the CIA was intent on arming the Kurds in northern Iran by the Iraq border as a part of the war.
During the event, Trump reiterated: 'We've had total regime change.'
The president used the address to update attendees about the ongoing conflict, including a daring rescue mission over the weekend to save an airman lost behind enemy lines
The US President was criticised for an extraordinary White House briefing that he delivered a few hours later, in which he vowed to destroy Iran in a single night.
Trump claimed: 'The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night. I hope I don't have to do it.'
He starkly added: 'Every bridge in Iran will be decimated by tomorrow night. Every power plant will be out of business, burning, exploding and never to be used again – I mean complete demolition.'
Critics labelled the whole press conference one of the president's 'craziest' yet, with YouTube personality and comedian Jimmy Dore attacking his narrative over the rescue of two American pilots shot down over Iran.
Trump hailed the mission as 'a breathtaking show of skill and precision, lethality and force'.
The F-15E fighter jet was brought down on Good Friday, with the two crew ejecting after the strike.
Dore said: 'Pretending that getting a fighter jet shot down by a military that Trump said was 'Completely Decimated' as a victory is pure clown show.
'Iran is humiliated? Everything they say is projection and a confession.'
As the president walked through the lawn, he divulged a number of details about the ongoing war - instead of saving it for his 1pm press conference
Some people on the internet, perplexed by the presence of the beaming rabbit as Trump touted his military operation, questioned whether they had lost touch with reality
Smoke and flames rise at the site of airstrikes on an oil depot in Tehran on March 7
Trump admitted the American public 'want to see us come home', as he searches for a way out of the conflict, but insisted that any peace deal between Tehran and Washington must be 'acceptable' to him.
It would have to include the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the key waterway for the global trade of oil that Iran has blocked since the outbreak of war, he said.
The US leader also refused to say whether the strategy to destroy civilian infrastructure amounted to war crimes. And asked if he was winding down the war or escalating, he said: 'I can't tell you. I don't know.'
Trump said that Iran was negotiating with the US in 'good faith', adding: 'We may even get involved with helping them rebuild their nation.'
But last night Tehran rejected the deal put forward by Pakistani mediators.
The regime's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the US had 'destroyed the path to diplomacy', and described efforts to agree a peace deal as 'incompatible with ultimatums and threats to commit war crimes'.
The proposals would have seen a 45-day pause in strikes in exchange for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Islamic Republic demanded a 'definitive end to the conflict', outlining its desire for the 'end to conflicts in the region, a protocol for safe passage through the strait, reconstruction and the lifting of sanctions'.
Speaking earlier in the the Rose Garden after the White House Easter egg event, Trump spoke of his wish to end the conflict quickly and take home whatever spoils of war he can get his hands on.
He said: 'If I had my choice I would take the oil because it is there for the taking, there is not a thing they can do about it.
'Unfortunately, the American people would like to see us come home. If it were up to me I'd keep the oil and we'd make plenty of money. But I also want to make the people of our country happy.'
He said he 'hated' the damage his forces were doing to Iran but suggested he would continue unless its leaders made a deal.
Confidence in Trump's ability to quickly end the war appears to be waning, as the FTSE 100 fell this morning while oil prices rose.
Brent crude, the international standard, rose to about $111 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate - the US standard - rose to $115 per barrel, its highest level in a month.
Global markets have been betting that skilled diplomacy will see the conflict draw to a close soon, but peace talks have so far made little headway.
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