On Monday night’s opening to The Last Word, host Lawrence O’Donnell, in his usual deranged fashion, decided to compare President Trump’s military actions in Iran to Adolf Hitler’s “rules of engagement" against Americans in World War II. He then implored Barron Trump and Donald Trump Jr. to go fight in Iran since Trump started the “burden of war,” without pointing out the Iranian uprising arose without the help of Trump.
O’Donnell opened his show with a vast display of opposition and rage to military operations in Iran. His outrage spiraled into comparisons of the US Military under Trump to Nazis, because Secretary Hegseth said they weren’t going to issue any of the infamously “stupid” rules of engagement he was subject to in Iraq and Afghanistan:
The Defense Secretary also said today that there are, quote, these are his words, “No stupid rules of engagement.” And that means the American military under Donald Trump will be operating under the same no rules of engagement used by Adolf Hitler's forces in World War II against Americans.
O’Donnell went on to complain about Trump’s talk of White House renovations at a speaking engagement earlier on Monday. But he eventually went back to the war, which he called illegal while referencing Politico columnist's Anush Khardori’s piece that called the killing of Khomeini “illegal”:
Donald Trump and his Secretary of Defense have both repeatedly referred to what they are doing in Iran as a war, which neither of them seem to understand is a way of emphasizing just how unconstitutional and illegal it is.
Oddly, he then seemed to have worry or some IRGC members who might be killed if they surrendered to the Iranian protests, with claims they can’t trust Trump and hinting that the opposition to the Islamic regime was no better:
(...) If an Iranian soldier puts his rifle on the ground, who's going to pick it up? Would it be picked up by one of the millions of opponents of the regime, who would then immediately use that weapon to shoot and kill that soldier who put it down? Trump told the Iranian military, “you will be treated fairly, with total immunity.” Treated fairly by whom? With total immunity granted by whom? There is not a person in Iran, in the military, or an opponent of the military who can take a word of what Donald Trump said seriously.
Maybe the IRGC had to make a choice, and they don’t deserve much thought given their actions over the years leading to the direct loss of life of U.S. service members.
In his closing barrage, O’Donnell made fun of Barron and Don Jr.’s bravery as he imagined them among the fighters in Iran, ignoring the current sacrifices by Iranian protestors since at least January:
Imagine, if you will, any one of Donald Trump's brave sons or daughters, or Donald Trump himself, living in Iran tonight, not yet killed by a bomb. Is that what Donald Trump Jr. would do, run out there and, quote, “take over your government”? Is that what 19 year old Barron Trump would do, quote, “seize control of your destiny”?
Would Barron Trump's mother let him go out into the streets of Iran and seize control of his destiny? She won't even let him enlist in the American military and serve in his father's war. So not only is Donald Trump telling people to do something that he and no one in his family would ever do, he is leaving the entire burden of his war on the people he is bombing tonight to wait until Donald Trump is finished bombing them, and then take over your government. It will be yours to take. (...).
O’Donnell’s suggestion that people would not rise up with aid of these strikes, ignored the fight of the Iranian people against the Islamist regime for much of the start of the year. Instead, he took the important military moment to, as usual, compare Trump to Hitler and make fun of the Trump family in his own smug fashion.
The transcript is below. Click "expand":
MS NOW’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
March 2, 2026
10:05:13 PM Eastern
LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: The Defense Secretary also said today that there are, quote, these are his words, “No stupid rules of engagement.” And that means the American military under Donald Trump will be operating under the same no rules of engagement used by Adolf Hitler's forces in World War II against Americans.
When Donald Trump was speaking lovingly about drapes this afternoon, the publicly announced death toll of American military personnel and Donald Trump's War was four. And later today, after Donald Trump was talking about his love of his drapes, that number was raised to six. And Donald Trump has not said a word about those lost lives since that number moved up to six today.
Donald Trump and his Secretary of Defense have both repeatedly referred to what they are doing in Iran as a war, which neither of them seem to understand is a way of emphasizing just how unconstitutional and illegal it is.
Writing in Politico, Ankush Khardori, a former federal prosecutor, says in fact, “the U.S. Attack on Iran crosses multiple legal lines, both domestically and internationally. The US Constitution gives congress the power to declare war, not the president. The Trump administration's war also cannot be squared with the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which allows the president to initiate hostilities abroad only when there has been (one) a declaration of war, (two) specific statutory authorization, or (three) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.”
“Trump did not even attempt to argue that any of these conditions had been met. As for the killing of Khomeini, that also appears to have been illegal under international law, which generally prohibits killing heads of state.”
(..)
10:08:27 PM
PRESIDENT TRUMP: To the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces, and all of the police, I say tonight that you must lay down your weapons and have complete immunity, or, in the alternative, face certain death. So lay down your arms. You will be treated fairly with total immunity, or you will face certain death.
O’DONNELL: How about lay down your arms and face certain death? Lay down their arms to whom? If an Iranian soldier puts his rifle on the ground, who's going to pick it up? Would it be picked up by one of the millions of opponents of the regime, who would then immediately use that weapon to shoot and kill that soldier who put it down? Trump told the Iranian military, “you will be treated fairly, with total immunity.” Treated fairly by whom? With total immunity granted by whom? There is not a person in Iran, in the military, or an opponent of the military who can take a word of what Donald Trump said seriously.
(...)
10:10:44 PM
O’DONNELL: Imagine, if you will, any one of Donald Trump's brave sons or daughters, or Donald Trump himself, living in Iran tonight, not yet killed by a bomb. Is that what Donald Trump Jr. would do, run out there and, quote, “take over your government”? Is that what 19 year old Barron Trump would do, quote, “seize control of your destiny”?
Would Barron Trump's mother let him go out into the streets of Iran and seize control of his destiny? She won't even let him enlist in the American military and serve in his father's war. So not only is Donald Trump telling people to do something that he and no one in his family would ever do, he is leaving the entire burden of his war on the people he is bombing tonight to wait until Donald Trump is finished bombing them, and then take over your government. It will be yours to take. We have been in this delusion before.
(...)
10:12:57 PM
O’DONNELL: Republican presidents launching wars never fail to pledge their friendship to the people they are bombing.
(...)
10:13:31 PM
O’DONNELL: Tonight, the people of Cuba should probably be planning where they will hide from the bombs when American friendship comes their way.
(...)
