Inside Donald Trump’s Iran gamble: Win it and then own it
People are fed up—do they even notice?
Welcome to Monday’s edition of Washington Secrets. The news is dominated by Iran, so we have a look at President Donald Trump’s unique approach to big decisions, which revolves around his extraordinary belief in his own ability. There is the moment Trump almost gave away his plan on Friday, and Gavin Newsom tells all about last year’s infamous phone call …
Donald Trump has told people around him that public opinion will turn against him for launching strikes on Iran but will rally decisively behind him once a quick victory proves him right.
Multiple sources, including current and former advisers, say the impact of the raid to capture Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela and strikes on Iran in his first term emboldened him to act now, secure in the knowledge that everything else will fall into place.
It is a confidence not shared by advisers. Reuters reports that he shrugged off advice that strikes would cause political problems for Republicans in November’s midterm elections.
But sources who understand Trump’s thinking told Secrets he has no doubts that it will work out.
“I’ve seen him get to a place where his feeling is, ‘F*** it, these guys are unreal,'” said a former Iran adviser, describing Trump’s approach to negotiating with Tehran. “There’s an element where if he’s frustrated enough, then he’s like, ‘The politics will be OK.'”
It is a bold gamble, a bet that he can use air power and decisive military might to achieve U.S. objectives in an abbreviated time frame.
The first half of his thinking has already come to pass. A Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Sunday found that only 1 in 4 people supported strikes, and about half concluded the president was too willing to use military force.
Now he has to seal the deal and get the job done before the U.S. casualty list grows longer and public sentiment sours further.
Last week, with the decision to strike Iran taken, Trump hosted TV anchors and select journalists at the White House for lunch ahead of the State of the Union.
One of those present explained the thinking.
Alex Marlow, editor-in-chief of Breitbart, said the lunch was off-the-record, so he had to be careful in what he said.
But he still told The Charlie Kirk Show that “his perspective, from what I’m able to glean from my conversations with him, is that people tend to be very negative when things happen initially, and then if they’re successful, they all of a sudden get on board.
“It’s kind of like people remembering they were at Woodstock …
People are fed up—do they even notice?
Welcome to Monday’s edition of Washington Secrets. The news is dominated by Iran, so we have a look at President Donald Trump’s unique approach to big decisions, which revolves around his extraordinary belief in his own ability. There is the moment Trump almost gave away his plan on Friday, and Gavin Newsom tells all about last year’s infamous phone call …
Donald Trump has told people around him that public opinion will turn against him for launching strikes on Iran but will rally decisively behind him once a quick victory proves him right.
Multiple sources, including current and former advisers, say the impact of the raid to capture Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela and strikes on Iran in his first term emboldened him to act now, secure in the knowledge that everything else will fall into place.
It is a confidence not shared by advisers. Reuters reports that he shrugged off advice that strikes would cause political problems for Republicans in November’s midterm elections.
But sources who understand Trump’s thinking told Secrets he has no doubts that it will work out.
“I’ve seen him get to a place where his feeling is, ‘F*** it, these guys are unreal,'” said a former Iran adviser, describing Trump’s approach to negotiating with Tehran. “There’s an element where if he’s frustrated enough, then he’s like, ‘The politics will be OK.'”
It is a bold gamble, a bet that he can use air power and decisive military might to achieve U.S. objectives in an abbreviated time frame.
The first half of his thinking has already come to pass. A Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Sunday found that only 1 in 4 people supported strikes, and about half concluded the president was too willing to use military force.
Now he has to seal the deal and get the job done before the U.S. casualty list grows longer and public sentiment sours further.
Last week, with the decision to strike Iran taken, Trump hosted TV anchors and select journalists at the White House for lunch ahead of the State of the Union.
One of those present explained the thinking.
Alex Marlow, editor-in-chief of Breitbart, said the lunch was off-the-record, so he had to be careful in what he said.
But he still told The Charlie Kirk Show that “his perspective, from what I’m able to glean from my conversations with him, is that people tend to be very negative when things happen initially, and then if they’re successful, they all of a sudden get on board.
“It’s kind of like people remembering they were at Woodstock …
Inside Donald Trump’s Iran gamble: Win it and then own it
People are fed up—do they even notice?
Welcome to Monday’s edition of Washington Secrets. The news is dominated by Iran, so we have a look at President Donald Trump’s unique approach to big decisions, which revolves around his extraordinary belief in his own ability. There is the moment Trump almost gave away his plan on Friday, and Gavin Newsom tells all about last year’s infamous phone call …
Donald Trump has told people around him that public opinion will turn against him for launching strikes on Iran but will rally decisively behind him once a quick victory proves him right.
Multiple sources, including current and former advisers, say the impact of the raid to capture Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela and strikes on Iran in his first term emboldened him to act now, secure in the knowledge that everything else will fall into place.
It is a confidence not shared by advisers. Reuters reports that he shrugged off advice that strikes would cause political problems for Republicans in November’s midterm elections.
But sources who understand Trump’s thinking told Secrets he has no doubts that it will work out.
“I’ve seen him get to a place where his feeling is, ‘F*** it, these guys are unreal,'” said a former Iran adviser, describing Trump’s approach to negotiating with Tehran. “There’s an element where if he’s frustrated enough, then he’s like, ‘The politics will be OK.'”
It is a bold gamble, a bet that he can use air power and decisive military might to achieve U.S. objectives in an abbreviated time frame.
The first half of his thinking has already come to pass. A Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Sunday found that only 1 in 4 people supported strikes, and about half concluded the president was too willing to use military force.
Now he has to seal the deal and get the job done before the U.S. casualty list grows longer and public sentiment sours further.
Last week, with the decision to strike Iran taken, Trump hosted TV anchors and select journalists at the White House for lunch ahead of the State of the Union.
One of those present explained the thinking.
Alex Marlow, editor-in-chief of Breitbart, said the lunch was off-the-record, so he had to be careful in what he said.
But he still told The Charlie Kirk Show that “his perspective, from what I’m able to glean from my conversations with him, is that people tend to be very negative when things happen initially, and then if they’re successful, they all of a sudden get on board.
“It’s kind of like people remembering they were at Woodstock …
