President Donald Trump made a damning admission by commenting on the war with Iran, and two political reporters illuminated just how careless he has been.
Speaking on Greg Sargent's "New Republic" morning podcast, Zeteo.com's Asawin Suebsaeng noted that during his comments Tuesday, the president speculated on the worst things that could happen. It indicated to them that Trump really hadn't thought through the Iran war.
"I guess, the worst case would be we do this and then somebody takes over who’s as bad as the previous person, right?" Trump asked the audience.
"You’d think he would have thought of that before," said Sargent. "He suggests here that he doesn’t expect that to happen. But it seems to me that what he really revealed here is that he hasn’t even bothered to imagine what additionally could go wrong — badly undermining his case. What did you make of it?"
Suebsaeng agreed that it was the damning admission about the decision to go to war.
"President Trump and the rest of the gang running the federal government right now are going about this with the exact same level of nobility and care and solemn posture that you or I would take while flipping through Hulu trying to find something new to watch," complained Suebsaeng.
What he said the team at Zeto discovered is that each time Trump was given briefings, he was completely uninterested in alternative options. There were plans and scenarios
"These were all things that, if he cared to pay attention, were put in his ear and in front of him over and over again in the weeks or months leading up to this thing," Suebsaeng said. "And you know what? Donald J. Trump said and decided firmly: I’m the decider. I think it’s worth it, f—— all that noise that you’re putting in my ear right now. We’re doing it. Let’s just do it and be legends. And he pulled the trigger on it."
He cited The New York Times reporting that said at least one top general had concerns about the war, and all Trump did was "tune it out — just closed his ears to all of it," Suebsaeng added.
Sargent said that Trump essentially undermined his own case for war by "basically admitting to how poorly thought through the aftermath of this truly is. And then note how he says it’s a good thing that the leadership in Venezuela was left virtually intact. So, does Trump want a change at the top in Iran or not? Does he want regime change or not? This is something they just can’t answer."