White House scrambles to reassure Trump 'conservatives aren’t abandoning him': WSJ

President Donald Trump’s team “is privately trying to reassure the president that conservatives aren’t abandoning him,” the Wall Street Journal reports, including providing him recent polling data “they say shows the [Iran] war is popular with his supporters.”

Still, the Journal notes, “a majority of Americans in polls [oppose] the war” as Trump’s team tries “to make the case that the conflict won’t drag on like the so-called ‘forever wars’ in Iraq and Afghanistan.” The Journal notes such an extended conflict is “a red line for many lawmakers and the president’s MAGA base.”

Meanwhile, “Trump allies who have grown skeptical of the operation have coordinated behind the scenes to schedule appearances on Fox News and other TV networks watched by the president to sound a note of caution and warn against a deeper U.S. commitment,” the Journal notes.

The Journal’s details of private White House discussions come as part of a larger report about the president’s preparedness for the war in Iran, including his acknowledgement that Iran could close the critical Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for U.S.-Israeli attacks.

Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Friday railed against a CNN report that revealed “the Pentagon and National Security Council significantly underestimated Iran’s willingness to close the Strait of Hormuz … while planning the ongoing operation.” Leavitt called the story “garbage.”

Now, the Journal is reporting Trump knew of the risks to the critical shipping lane — but decided to go to war anyway.

“Before the U.S. went to war, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told President Trump that an American attack could prompt Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz,” the Journal reports. Trump, according to the Journal, “acknowledged the risk … [and] told his team that Tehran would likely capitulate before closing the strait — and even if Iran tried, the U.S. military could handle it.”

“The White House said Trump understood the risks of launching the war, but was determined to eliminate the national security threat posed by Iran,” the Journal notes. “Before the president approved the operation, he and his advisers discussed options to force the reopening of the strait and use the U.S. Navy to escort tankers through the waterway, [people familiar with the discussions] said.”

Caine and other advisors outlined “the possible closure of the strait … for Trump in the run-up to the war,” according to the report. The general also told Trump he believed “the U.S. military could hobble Iran’s navy and missile arsenal, according to people with knowledge of the discussions, as well as further reduce its capability to build and deploy a nuclear weapon.”

Joe Holstead, Caine’s spokesman, told the Journal the general provided Trump with “a full spectrum of military options, along with precise and thoughtful consideration of the secondary effects, implications and risks associated with each option.”

Per the report, administration officials kept “only a small group … looped into the preparations for Iran — including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and [Secretary of Defense Pete] Hegseth.” This was by design, administration officials told the Journal, because “it allowed Trump to respond quickly to shifting developments” and would “contain leaks."

“Typically, war preparations include weeks or months of classified deliberations, written planning documents, the airing of dissenting views from diplomats and intelligence officials, and National Security Council meetings with Cabinet members to make the most informed decision,” the Journal reports