The president has told his advisers he would want any action to deliver a decisive blow to the Iranian regime, but so far he hasn’t gotten that guarantee from them, sources say . Donald Trump would want military action in Iran to be swift and decisive, sources say. The president has told his advisers he would want any action to deliver a decisive blow to the Iranian regime, but so far he hasn’t gotten that guarantee from them, sources say.
President Donald Trump has told his national security team that he would want any U.S. military action in Iran to deliver a swift and decisive blow to the regime and not spark a sustained war that dragged on for weeks or months, according to a U.S. official, two people familiar with the discussions and a person close to the White House.
“If he does something, he wants it to be definitive,” one of the people familiar with the discussions said.
But Trump’s advisers have so far not been able to guarantee to him that the regime would quickly collapse after an American military strike, the U.S. official and two people familiar with the discussions said, and there is concern that the U.S. may not have all the assets in the region it would need to guard against what administration officials expect would be an aggressive Iranian response.
Those dynamics could lead Trump to approve a more limited U.S. military offensive in Iran, at least initially, while reserving options to escalate — if he decides to take any military action at all, said the U.S. official and one of the people familiar with the discussions. They said that it is a fast-evolving situation and that as of Wednesday afternoon no decisions had been made. During a visit to Detroit on Tuesday, Trump told protesting Iranians that “help is on its way” and called the situation in the country “fragile.”
Asked for comment on the details of Trump’s deliberations, a White House official pointed to Trump’s remarks in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon.
Trump told reporters then that he had learned the Iranian regime had stopped killing protesters and halted plans for executions, either of which he has said could trigger a U.S. military response. “We have been informed by very important sources on the other side, and they said the killing has stopped and the executions won’t take place,” Trump said Wednesday. “I hope it’s true. Who knows?”
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has told his national security team that he would want any U.S. military action in Iran to deliver a swift and decisive blow to the regime and not spark a sustained war that dragged on for weeks or months, according to a U.S. official, two people familiar with the discussions and a person close to the White House.
“If he does something, he wants it to be definitive,” one of the people familiar with the discussions said.situation in Iran,” adding that U.S. military operations in Iran last year and in Venezuela this month show “he means what he says.–NBC
