President Donald Trump is “exasperated” by the ongoing war in Iran — and taking it out on his staff, according to an ally of the president who spoke with NBC News,
“I don’t think he believed it was going to be this difficult to get the Iranians to agree to a deal,” the ally told NBC News. “There was not a real strategy for how long or what they should do to get to the endpoint.”
“He did not intend this to be a long, drawn-out war,” the person said.
Trump, according to NBC, is “angry about his military options and frustrated that he can’t close a deal with Iran.” The president’s flailing foreign strategy is especially evident as the war, which he originally described as a “short-term excursion” drags “into its sixth month.” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth estimates the war has so far cost $37.5 billion. A Telegraph analysis puts the “true bill” at $151.3 billion.
“Trump erupted during a meeting last week with some of his top national security officials, yelling expletives, according to the U.S. official and another person familiar with the discussion,” NBC News reports.
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“After all this time, there is no unity,” one U.S. official familiar with the discussions told NBC.
Another U.S. official, described as having “knowledge of the discussions around the war,” told reporters the military lacks “clear guidance” from the president — even as the military prepares to resume major combat operations in Iran.
“We have had a series of tactical victories, but are facing a strategic defeat without clear policy guidance or a decision about where this is going,” the official told NBC News.
According to the report, Trump “is expected to be presented this week with expanded military options that include targeting Iranian-backed proxies in the region, according to the U.S. official. There’s also a Cabinet meeting set for Camp David on Friday.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavit called reports of the president’s outburst at national security officials “false.”
“The president has a great team whom he trusts, and everyone on the team knows he’s the final decision-maker,” she told NBC News.
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