The claim spread on Facebook, Instagram, Reddit and X as Trump threatened to resume the war with Iran if all sides could not reach a ceasefire agreement. Trump announced on April 21 that he had indefinitely extended the ceasefire with Iran as peace talks remained on hold.
One X post sharing the claim read:
CONFIRMED: The US joint Chiefs of staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine stormed out of an emergency meeting with Trump. Insiders indicate that Trump wanted to invoke the nuclear codes as a deterrence against Iran but Caine refused and invoked the U.S. Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Snopes readers sent us numerous tips asking us to confirm the rumor.
We found no evidence from reputable news outlets or official sources supporting the claim,
Given the above, we've rated this claim false.
The story appeared to originate from
In an April 20, 2026, podcast episode hosted by Napolitano, Johnson said (at the 4:35 mark):
They had an emergency meeting Saturday night. And apparently, one report coming out of that meeting at the White House is that Trump wanted to use the nuclear codes and Gen. Dan Caine stood up and said, "No!" He invoked his privilege as the head of the military, so to speak. It was apparently quite a blow-up. There are pictures of Caine coming out of that meeting with his head down to the ground. […] There are some very bizarre things coming out of D.C.
Johnson didn't point to any specific evidence, such as news reports or photographs from reputable media outlets, to support his claims. We reached out to him for corroborating information and will update this story if we receive a response.
To investigate Johnson's claims, we searched for evidence of such an emergency meeting between Trump and Caine. A
Our review also did not find any credible news media outlets or social media accounts that had shared recent photos of Caine in the manner Johnson described.
Caine has been publicly supportive of Trump's war with Iran, saying in mid-April 2026 that the U.S. would "use force" against any ships that violated the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz — a key shipping route for oil supplies.
Before this statement, in February 2026, news reports claimed that Caine
Numerous stories from the Fake News Media have been circulating stating that General Daniel Caine, sometimes referred to as Razin, is against us going to War with Iran. The story does not attribute this vast wealth of knowledge to anyone, and is 100 percent incorrect. General Caine, like all of us, would like not to see War but, if a decision is made on going against Iran at a Military level, it is his opinion that it will be something easily won.
While we were unable to verify whether the Iran war prompted any internal disagreements, there is no public confirmation that Caine and Trump ever had a confrontation about using nuclear codes, as Johnson claimed.
As president, Trump has the legal authority to order a nuclear attack that military leaders would then implement.
The president doesn't need agreement from his military leaders or Congress to order the launch of nuclear weapons, and they aren't able to overrule such orders, the Congressional Research Service says. This suggests Caine or other military leaders would be unable to effectively stop the president from launching a nuclear attack in the way social media posts describe.
For further reading, Snopes has previously covered unverified rumors about the U.S. military's response to Trump, including many claims about the military draft.