US2 min(s) read
Published 16:20 21 Apr 2026 GMT
CIA analyst claims Trump had to be stopped using nuclear codes against Iran this weekend
A retired CIA analyst has made the terrifying claim that the US President tried to invoke nuclear codes against Iran during an emergency meeting.
During the discussions on Saturday, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Dan Caine was allegedly forced to step in to stop Trump before he made any world-changing decisions.
The scary allegation was made by Larry C Johnson on the 'Judging Freedom' podcast, hosted by former judge Andrew Napolitano, but has not been confirmed by any official source.
A clip of host Napolitano explaining that Johnson said “there is seriously something wrong with Trump” went viral after being shared on X by political commentator Jimmy Dore, amassing over two million views.
Is there a real threat of nuclear weapons being used?
However, despite Johnson’s credentials: four years as a CIA analyst before moving to the State Department's Office of Counterterrorism and now working as a political commentator and private security consultant, his allegations have not been proved.
The White House, the Pentagon, and General Caine's office have not responded to the shocking claim.
Johnson’s allegations follow negotiation talks held in Islamabad over the weekend, which collapsed after 21 hours without an agreement.
As no compromise was reached, Trump ordered a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz after Iran rejected the American proposal of a 20-year suspension of Iranian uranium enrichment.
Although drastic decisions are not out of character for Trump, it is currently unknown if there is any truth in Johnson’s allegations, as the claims have not been confirmed by any government source or credible news organisation.
Why could the misinformation still be bad news?
No official record, court document, or verified source has confirmed that Trump invoked nuclear codes in the emergency meeting or even that the controversial subject was raised.
Although the claims have not been officially verified, they could still have disastrous effects on the real-life conflict as US-Iran negotiations are at a critical point and a naval blockade is already in place.
Circulation of rumors about the conflict will inevitably add pressure to an already extremely volatile situation.
Also, Johnson’s public record is already controversial, as, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Russian media have cited the former CIA analyst in hundreds of news articles and TV reports, presenting him as an authoritative intelligence voice.
Despite his short time working for the US government 35 years ago, he is used in Russia as the voice of American politics, making his often false or misleading claims useful to the Kremlin.