Tom Cotton is the most outspoken champion for bombing Iran in a Senate filled with Republican hawks. And he’s got President Donald Trump’s ear on it, too.
The Arkansas Republican has spoken to several high-ranking U.S. officials and the president himself about the rising tensions with Iran after the U.S. blamed the Islamic Republic for attacking two oil tankers. He declined to describe those conversations beyond saying that he and Trump “discussed the threat that Iran poses to the United States and its partners.
“I tend to agree with the president a lot more than I did with the last one. And when I don’t, I’ll try to change his mind on numerous occasions, most unknown publicly,” Cotton said. “But if I can’t, then I’ll vote in what I think is the best interest of Arkansas and the nation.” Trump is “dead set against Iran’s behavior, that you can’t be intimidated,” said Graham, who added that Trump is not ruling anything out in private conversations. Graham played golf with Trump over the weekend.
His first months as a senator in 2015 were defined by his campaign against President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, beginning with a letter signed by most Republican senators warning the next president could withdraw from any agreement. Then Cotton played a leading role in Trump’s withdrawal from the deal, which some have blamed for exacerbating the tensions with Iran.
“More Republicans, even if they haven’t spoken out in public, believe it’s time to take a firmer hand toward Iran given the outrages they’ve perpetrated over the last month or so,” Cotton said.
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