Trump’s Media Blitz Only Raises More Questions About War in Iran
Winging It
The president hasn’t been able to offer much clarity about the military campaign, which has already led to four American deaths
The United States has launched a military campaign against Iran, alongside Israel, with Donald Trump describing it as a "massive and ongoing" operation. Iran’s long-standing supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been killed, along with several key figures in his regime. Tragically, multiple U.S. service members have also lost their lives. Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine have all warned that more Americans are likely to die. "That’s the way it is," the president stated on Sunday.
Trump's announcement of American casualties in the Iran operation came via a pre-recorded video, similar to his initial announcement of the operation on Friday. Since then, the president has been making calls to various media outlets to discuss the situation and its future trajectory. However, he has failed to provide clear insights, offering a series of contradictory assessments that suggest the administration may not have fully considered the implications of attacking a nation of 90 million people.
In an interview with The New York Times on Sunday, Trump compared the situation in Iran to the military capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this year. Maduro was replaced by Delcy Rodríguez, a former vice president whom the U.S. believed it could control. Trump stated, "What we did in Venezuela, I think, is the perfect, the perfect scenario." Bret Baier of Fox News reported on Monday that Trump had told him that Venezuela serves as the "template" for how he would like to see the situation in Iran unfold.
However, the identity of Iran's Delcy Rodríguez remains unclear. Jonathan Karl of ABC News reported that Trump had told him they had identified individuals they envisioned taking over the nation, but then killed them all. "The attack was so successful it knocked out most of the candidates," Trump said. "It’s not going to be anybody that we were thinking of because they are all dead. Second or third place is dead."
Trump later told CNN’s Jake Tapper that they don’t know who the leadership is in Iran, who they will pick, or if they will get lucky and find someone competent. He claimed that not even Iran knows who is in charge, likening the situation to an "unemployment line."
While Trump may have achieved his goals in Venezuela, Iran is a different country, and the idea of a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps taking over and working with the U.S. is highly questionable. Trump seems to suggest that this was their plan, but he has also stated that he wants the Iranian people to rise up and take control of the government, even implying that the regime might cede control. "They would really surrender to the people, if you think about it," he told the Times.
The plan and ultimate objective remain unclear. Trump and his administration claim they needed to counteract the threat Iran posed to the United States, despite the fact that Iran does not possess a nuclear weapon, and the administration acknowledged that they had no intelligence suggesting Iran planned to attack U.S. forces. Trump has also stated that he just wants to liberate Iranians. "All I want is freedom for the people," he told The Washington Post. Hegseth, however, claimed on Monday that "this is not a regime change war," despite the targeted attacks on the regime’s high command. "The regime did change," Hegseth added.
"We fight wars to win and we don’t waste time or lives," Hegseth said.
It’s unclear what "winning" means in this context, or how many lives the war will ultimately cost beyond the four Americans who have already been confirmed dead. Trump has been vague about the length of the campaign, telling the Times he intends to keep up the war for "four to five weeks," while telling Axios he could end the war in "two or three days." He said at the White House on Monday that the war could go "far longer" than four or five weeks and told Tapper that "we haven’t even started hitting them hard" and that the "big wave" is coming soon.
Trump didn’t exactly ease the confusion by claiming on Monday that America’s objectives are "clear," laying out that he wants to destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities, "annihilate" the nation’s navy, and stop them from funding terror groups. The speech, made during a ceremony for Medal of Honor recipients, marked the first time the president has spoken in public about the war against Iran. Trump insisted he won’t get "bored" by the war, but couldn’t even stay on topic for the duration of the address. "I picked those drapes in my first term," he said at one point, gesturing to the curtains hanging behind him, during a lengthy digression about the White House ballroom under construction. "I always liked gold. I think we can save a lot of money. I just saved curtains."
