If you ask Donald Trump, his war with Iran has been over, or just about over, almost since the very start. Just 10 days after the first missile strike in February, the president announced, “The war is very complete — pretty much.” He’s been offering kaleidoscopic assessments ever since; the war may be long over or on the verge of wrapping up, depending on the day and who’s asking.
So it’s fitting that on the eve of a midterms election that may be heavily influenced by voters’ distaste for the Iran war — or at least its economic impact — Trump delivered a condensed version of his “all of the above” answer on the state of the conflict.
On Monday night, Trump called into Fox News for an interview with Sean Hannity. After displaying a list of Trump’s purported second term accomplishments, the host set the president up to argue that the Iran war doesn’t actually violate his “no forever wars” campaign pledge.
Hannity noted [at the six minute mark in the video below] that many administration officials have argued they simply “had no choice” on launching a war with Iran. “Both Midnight Hammer and Epic Fury were to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon … [the conflict] will come to an ...