Analysis: Trump keeps saying ‘nobody’ knew or expected things lots of people knew or expected
By: Daniel Dale/CNN
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
When President Donald Trump says “nobody” knew or expected something, that often means lots of people knew or expected it.
Trump made wildly inaccurate “nobody” claims about multiple subjects during his first presidency. Perhaps most famously, he declared in 2017, while trying and failing to pass a replacement for Obamacare, that “nobody knew health care could be so complicated.”
He’s now doing it again amid the war with Iran.
On multiple occasions this month, Trump has claimed “nobody” had expected Iran to attack its Persian Gulf neighbors after it was attacked by the US and Israel. “Nobody ever thought they’d be shot at,” he said of Gulf countries on Thursday. “Nobody was even thinking about it,” he said Monday. “Nobody, nobody, no, no, no. No, the greatest experts — nobody thought they were going to hit,” he said last week.
In reality, various experts had not only thought but publicly predicted that Iran would retaliate by striking countries in the region. Iranian officials had themselves said this was their plan.
Like Trump’s health care claim in 2017 and the “nobody” claims he made about the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the new claim about Iran appears to be an attempt to shield himself from criticism. If nobody expected Iranian attacks on Gulf nations, nobody thought the US needed to prepare for another pandemic and nobody knew it would be so tough to pass a health care bill, surely none of these situations could be the president’s fault.
Trump’s ‘nobody’ claims serve his goals
Many of Trump’s other false “nobody” claims this term have served both his political and personal aims.
His laughable declaration that he ended wars that “nobody” even knew were occurring even though they had killed “millions and millions” of people portrays him as a heroic foreign policy visionary. His strange assertion that “nobody” knows the last name of former vice president Kamala Harris belittles his 2024 election opponent. His false claim that “nobody” knows who is receiving California’s mail-in ballots fuels both his push to restrict mail-in voting and his lie that he only lost the popular vote in the 2016 and 2020 elections because of widespread fraud in Democratic-dominated areas.
In some cases, though, it’s a mystery why Trump made a “nobody” claim.
For example, when he gave a February speech at the US Institute of Peace headquarters building in Washington, DC, which his administration seized from the nonprofit organization last year , he claimed , “It’s brand new, they built it for peace, but nobody occupied it. You know, nobody knew what the purpose of it (was).” In fact, it was known to numerous people in the federal government and in the broader capital that the building had been custom-built as a home for the US Institute of Peace , which had occupied it since 2011.
Was Trump lying, or did he not know this himself and therefore assume nobody else knew either? Nobody knows.
Trump claimed ‘nobody’ expected peace in the Middle East – but there wasn’t actually peace in the Middle East
Trump’s false “nobody” claims are in keeping with the penchant for hyperbole that has characterized his rhetoric since his days as a celebrity businessman. The most head-spinning of the claims are boasts.
Specifically, they’re the boasts in which Trump correctly says that nobody expected some particular great thing to happen during his presidency… but incorrectly says the thing has happened during his presidency.
For example, in January, he said , “We actually have peace in the Middle East. Nobody thought that was possible.” He said the next day, “We have peace in the Middle East. It’s an amazing thing. Nobody thought we’d ever see that.”
In reality, “nobody” had been proven right.
Despite 2025 ceasefires between Israel and Iran and between Israel and Hamas, the Middle East as a whole obviously wasn’t at peace at the time Trump made these January comments. Trump implicitly conceded that he was exaggerating, admitting the same day as the latter remark that there were “little flames” in the region and in mid-February that there were “some flames here and there.”
Less than two weeks later, Trump started the war with Iran – the one that prompted the Iranian response he claimed “nobody” had expected.
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Pathological.
Sadly, for us, Trump uses this style of rhetorical 'flourish' because well, it works for him (and MAGA supporters too)! And as it stands, his supporters are all that matter to him anyway. (He tackily shows little to no respect for non-supporters on any given day.)
Not only does he show no respect for non-supporters, he openly expresses his contempt for them.
Yes. Trump is not a team-player. He is not even a proper 'Coach' for his own cache of 'players.' It's his way or the proverbial highway. Not a team-player!
This is from May 2020. Nobody knew how much worse it would get.
Thank you for your attention to this matter!
Nobody's ever seen anything like it before!
It's "Trump-speak" and he uses "Nobody knows" as a defensive measure to inform himself. . . that he is the 'smartest' person in the room. . . having 'found out' something he did not know before anybody else does. Thus, he is (always) the one doing the INFORMING. . . so others should listen to. . . him.
It's the 'Yes, Man' game again. (As who in Trump's circle of professionals is willing to tell him they actually do know something he does not know once he signals it a 'new' unheard of thing in the world?)
BTW, it is a very dangerous 'sickness' (delusion state) Trump lives in, where he is the smartest person on par and really needs no one to tell him anything.
Exactly, in his sick mind, if he did not know something, then nobody could have known it.
And I am in awe that republicans fall for this kind of thing. . . after-all, a liberal can't get anything 'pass' them for they are always looking off into the distance for something to 'clock'! And yet for some meaningless 'trifles' in policy that won't last much longer than Trump's/MAGA supported 'reign of terror' they won't tell the 'emperor his clothes are scant. . .and filthy! That is, that he is delusional and worse it is being seen by more and more observers.
It may be that they have and are telling him to watch his hyperbolic flourishes . . .and he is too stubborn to change!
"Many people" are finally starting to realize Trump is a delusional figure. . . and are starting to talk about it publicly.
We've been talking about it for a long time already.
... 20 years.
If only "NOBODY" had voted for this POS...
More than 18 million voters held their noses and stayed home, condemning us to this madness instead of the same old, same old that so terrifies the average conservative.
Well here we are in a shooting war expending munitions faster than we can manufacture them, faster than we can even load them, if we have replacements, exposing SKorea, Taiwan and UK and NATO.
Trump has no plans, no allies and no exit strategy other than to do what he always does, declare victory and ignore the obvious.
Ignore the national debt while his own income more than doubled due to side deals and out in the open business as usual, selling pardons to the highest bidders
and doing everything possible ( The East Wing, Venezuela, Iran, Cuba next ) to keep Epstein reports out of the news cycle.
Frustrating as Hell it is, as I know a few who sat out. They're not feeling so above the fray as it is rather apparent how bad they have fckd up in underestimating the damage this 'man' could and would do, difficult to see how, as so many of US obviously knew.
Totally agree, Iggy. His being elected President is a huge scar on the face of America.
More like permanent disfigurement. Nice to hear from you Raven.
Thanks Iggy, very nice to hear from you as well. (smile)
And 'dear Leader' is at it again with yet another 'Ask':
Looking to limit birthright citizenship, Trump turns to an 1884 Supreme Court ruling against a Native American man
you're confused, trump doesn't want any more brown people born here to be US citizens ... /s
I don't think Trump is quite that severe (yet). . .I do think he wants brown people to know their place in the pecking order of his United States - that is, like everybody else here under his hierarchical structure and permanent control. (Trump does not like it when people in general (minorities specifically) balk at where he thinks they should be in his control 'box.'
To be even clearer, I defer to any knowledge you have of the man. . . for you may know more about this individual than me or what I can discern from reading about him and watching what he has done in the past and to date.
I've had a bit of experience dealing with white racist relics whose mouths write checks their brains can't cover ...
Truth is, Native people of America are more American citizens than any other ethnic people here who are descendents of immigrants from other countries, including Trump. And the way Trump is determined to destroy America, he has no right to claim to be an American.
JMOO
You're right! Truth is, the longer I think about it. . . CONSERVATIVES have been and are determined to let little to nothing change in this country for the benefit of anyone other than their own worldview. This has been going on 'forever' and the generations having to deal with this have been many.
It's in the name Christian 'conservative'; they want to 'conserve' the status quo just like they did when slavery was the status quo, or when Jim Crow laws became the status quo, or when segregation was the status quo. And it doesn't make any difference what party affiliation they claimed at different points throughout history, what never changed was that they were Christian 'conservatives' meaning they liked things the way they were and they rejected pushes to change the status quo which since our founding has included massive amounts of sanctioned discrimination against those who were not 'white', 'conservative', or 'Christian' enough which has been the default of the ruling class for 250 years in this country.
It is a shame before God that so-called 'saints' can not be better humans than permanent harmers of other people lives and livelihood! I mean, it is pitiful. I am ashamed of Christian Nationalists. I wash my hands of them as unworthy of befriending/friendship. I won't be asking any of them for association in the real world or virtual world. It is too much harm done and it has gone way too damn far!
To be clear, I will discuss with MAGA conservatives, I will accept change from MAGA conservatives, what I will not do is befriend any of them that just want to 'beat the drum' in the foreground against my very existence on earth as a liberal.
wtf? xtian nationalists aren't real christians. he's not their savior, he's their excuse ...
To their shame! I agree. . .they have an imaginary Jesus they concocted out of truth of 'whole cloth' and then bowed down to give "it" uninterrupted obeisance. I am ashamed of them on their behalf!
thumpers that don't live by the 10 commandments, can't expect to be protected by them ...
Unfortunately our media has allowed this nonsense to be normalized.
That is a gross oversimplification of the issues.
The president of the United States is not ethically, morally, or intelligent enough, to hold the office. What mainstream media do you see admitting this ? I don't see any.
Agreed.
I don't see MSNBC/MSNOW holding back anything.
CNN does it's best to appear neutral.
FOX has moved towards the center.
Everything in print has devolved to the internet and wifi. Too much trash to sift through.
The protests yesterday were the largest ever.
Are you disappointed that no one set themselves on fire?
When did this happen?
about a year ago, when rupert started spitting instead of swallowing ...
Did you see Alex Jones tonight?
He said swollen ankles indicate heart failure (true, but it could be just gout)
He said Trump was senile and he's sick of the constant babbling.
He admires the loyalty of the sycophants...but something has to change.
Alex said tonight's performance should be a wake up call to the GOP, but he doubts it.
Alex Jones is yesterdays news , I think, but he does show some ready to move on from Trump. Jones was a main instigator on Jan 5th 2021 , the night before the riot.
>sniff< boo hoo hoo ..."he's gone" ...
LOL
yes that was hysterical, lol
Maybe you should change the sources you use?
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Nobody thought he would be the worst POTUS ever in the history of the United States of America!
of course that's sarcasm for those who can't decipher my meaning
He contradicts himself!! Look at his comments prior to 2016 about Iran. He used to falsely claim that Obama's poll numbers were low and that Obama was going to war with Iran. Trump himself called it a stupid move.
Over and over again Trump has stated how stupid it would be to war with Iran and now MAGA cheerleads this stupidity. They blindly bow to the stupidity.
trump's speech to america last night proved that he is unfit for the job ...
You forgot the word “again”.
my mistake ...
Been that way for his entire life.
not exactly what I imagined when my 4th grade teacher told me that anyone could grow up to be president ...