Day after day since the war in Iran began, the US defense secretary has taken an unapologetic tone about Operation Epic Fury.
"They are toast and they know it," Pete Hegseth said of the Iranian regime last week.
"This was never meant to be a fair fight, and it is not a fair fight.
"We are punching them while they're down."
Mr Hegseth's bravado was followed up with social media videos from the White House, splicing together real footage of the conflict with what appear to be clips from video games.
Another video, captioned "Justice the American way", combined US military footage with snippets from movies such as Gladiator and Top Gun Maverick.
The Trump administration is aiming to project an image of strength, of an incredibly powerful military that is in control and destined for success.
But there are signs the American people — including some of the president's own supporters — are sceptical that the war is in the country's best interests.
And critics argue the messaging from both the White House and the Pentagon is undermining the mission.
"To make it all about the glorification of death and destruction … it's beneath any American official," said Rachel VanLandingham, a retired US Air Force lieutenant colonel who is now a law professor at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles.
"It really gives me pause regarding the competency of our leadership that's running this war."
A tough sell to a war-weary public
Part of Mr Trump's challenge in selling his actions to the American public stems from his previous criticisms of US involvement in lengthy foreign wars and his promise not to start any new conflicts.
"Trump has mentioned multiple times, 'peace through strength'," one of his supporters, 25 year old Nick Alverson, recently told the ABC.
"And to me personally it doesn't seem to be very peaceful to be participating in something that I would say isn't really our place, to be putting American lives at risk."
Some of the most prominent figures inside the president's Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement are also critical of the decision to go to war.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson described it as "absolutely disgusting and evil", while another Fox alumni, Megyn Kelly, argued Mr Trump had not offered adequate justification.
"Being a Trump supporter, or being part of MAGA, does not mean that you have to accept another Middle East war without questions," she said on her podcast.
Mr Trump has pushed back, insisting his support base "loves what I'm doing — every aspect of it".
Opinion polls suggest a majority of Republican voters are in favour of the president's action.
And Mr Trump has been backed by his party on Capitol Hill, with almost all Republicans in Congress voting down a push to try to halt the conflict.
But a Reuters poll of voters across the political spectrum found only 27 per cent of respondents approved of the war, while 43 per cent of respondents disapproved and 30 per cent weren't sure.
"No rally-'round-the-flag effect there,'" wrote former Republican presidential advisor and political strategist Karl Rove, referring to the temporary surge in political support for leaders during previous conflicts.
Mr Rove argued the White House needed to do a better job of building public support.
But White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Mr Trump believed Americans were behind him.
"[Iran] is a rogue terrorist regime that has been threatening the United States, our allies, and our people for 47 years," she said on Wednesday, local time.
"And the American people are smart enough to know that, and they've also been smart enough to listen to the president himself."
A combative leader in Pete Hegseth
Americans who are listening to Mr Trump may have been confused by mixed messages coming from the president and his team about the reasons for the operation and its end goals.
But one thing the commander in chief did make clear from the outset was the risk that it would lead to the loss of US lives.
The number of Americans killed in the war is likely to be a key influence on the level of public support for the conflict.
"We may have casualties. That often happens in war," Mr Trump said in a pre-recorded message released soon after the strikes began.
Six US service members were killed by a drone strike in Kuwait the following day.
Mr Hegseth described them as "six of our best", adding that the US would "avenge them, no doubt".
But he went on to complain about media coverage, suggesting too much attention had been paid to the deaths.
"I get it, the press only wants to make the president look bad," he said.
"But try, for once, to report the reality."
The former Fox News anchor is known for his combative communication style.
He has vowed to eliminate "woke" culture from the Defense Department, railed against "fat generals" and warned America's enemies to "FAFO" — an acronym for the phrase "f*** around and find out".
He has also criticised what he called the "dumb, politically driven" wars of the past, arguing this conflict would have "no stupid rules of engagement".
It's the type of rhetoric that has alarmed critics such as Professor VanLandingham.
"We see the secretary of defense constantly putting [the war] in the framework, the narrative, of a big video game," she told the ABC.
"'We're blowing up a lot of stuff, we're killing a lot of people' … it's so distasteful to me.
"I think there probably is a good reason for why we are doing this, but we're certainly not hearing it from the administration."
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