WANA (Aug 24) – Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has mocked U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan in response to Trump’s reposting of an edited excerpt from Ghalibaf’s remarks about Iran’s economic situation, writing: “Make America hungry again”

 

Ghalibaf also shared an image citing figures on poverty and food insecurity in the United States, writing that “47 million Americans are hungry, and these figures are not fake like your statements.”

 

The image stated that around 47 million people in the United States face hunger and food insecurity, meaning that one in every eight Americans struggles with food insecurity. It also said that 16 million American children are among those affected by poverty and the cost-of-living crisis.

 

Ghalibaf stressed that the figures were not fabricated and said Trump could not compensate for what he described as U.S. failures against Iran by spreading false information.

The reaction came after Trump reposted a short, edited excerpt from Ghalibaf’s remarks during a meeting with Iranian and Iraqi businesspeople, presenting it as Ghalibaf saying: “We are hungry and we do not have the ability to resist.”

 

However, in his full remarks, Ghalibaf was not describing hunger as the current condition of the Iranian people. Rather, he was emphasizing the need to strengthen the economy and prevent economic hardship as part of what he described as an economic and cognitive war.

 

Ghalibaf said at the meeting that the United States and Israel, after failing to achieve their objectives against Iran and Iraq through military means, had turned to cognitive and economic warfare, describing businesspeople as the “soldiers and commanders” on that front.

Ghalibaf further described security and the economy as interdependent, saying that, just as two wings are needed for flight, both security and economic strength must be maintained simultaneously. He nevertheless stressed that security remains the foundation for economic activity and attracting investment.

 

The full context therefore shows that the excerpt reposted by Trump was part of a broader argument about the need to prevent economic and livelihood pressures from weakening society under external pressure, rather than a statement that the Iranian people were unable to withstand such pressure.