As Trump decides whether to strike Iran, the specter of his past military interventions is looming over the choice before him now
As President Donald Trump decides whether to strike Iran, the specter of his past military interventions is looming large over the choice before him now.
By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. Over the last 10 days, around a dozen outside advisers have weighed in with him one way or another on Iran, including Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister who has tried to mediate between the U.S. and Iran; Ric Grenell, the ambassador to Germany; anti-interventionist Sen. Rand Paul ; and Freedom Caucus stalwart Rep. Mark Meadows , according to a Washington Republican familiar with the president’s conversations.Others are recommending that the U.S.
But Trump still has an NSC team that “is incredibly hawkish, hawkish beyond any logical reason” on Iran, said the former U.S. official. “They used to refer to Mattis as being far too restrained on Iran,” this person said, referring to former secretary of defense James Mattis, “even though Mattis is a guy who is as hawkish as a guy than anybody.”
Trump emerged from the meeting with no discernible shift in posture, telling reporters, “We have military power the likes of which the world has never seen. I’m not concerned at all. I’d like to avoid it.” But the attacks in Saudi Arabia, at least for now, have halted the president’s efforts to bring Iran to the negotiating table.
At the time, the administration’s internal position was that only an American casualty could prompt military retaliation. But Iran has arguably become only more emboldened since then, taking more steps to restart its nuclear program.
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