Washington Examiner chief political correspondent Byron York said President Donald Trump did not “build up” for why the United States should engage in conflict with Iran.
Trump said on March 1 that the conflict in Iran will be “a four-week process,” though the war is still ongoing. York said “a lot of polls” have asked if Trump has been clear in explaining the purpose and goals of the Iran war, and the majority of respondents, “around 65%,” say the president hasn’t.
“So what does that mean? Well, first of all, the president was not clear at all before he did it,” York said on the Hugh Hewitt Show Tuesday. “As a matter of fact, the first time he actually starts laying out the purpose of what he’s done is in that video that he releases at, like, two in the morning on the morning of the attack itself. So he didn’t do a buildup, he didn’t explain it going in, and so I think that a lot of people still sort of have that feeling.”
York said the Trump administration has since put its focus on eliminating Iran’s missile and nuclear capabilities, and this is now “the explanation” for the war. However, “a number of people” either haven’t “gotten” this explanation, or they have heard this and don’t find it “entirely satisfactory.”
York also said the Strait of Hormuz is “a fairly big military problem,” and argued the U.S. is not ready to solve it yet. He said it is unknown if Iran will “pull the trigger,” citing how theoretical discussions have included small water drones and whether they can take out “a billion-dollar freighter.”
Iran is levying tolls of up to $2 million on several ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. This comes as the average price of gas is $3.98 per gallon, up from $2.97 from a month ago, before the start of the war, according to the American Automobile Association.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is among the critics of the U.S.’s war with Iran, saying on Tuesday that the U.S.’s justification for this war “does not hold water.”
Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Qalibaf, said on Monday that no negotiations have started with the U.S., contradicting a statement an Israeli official made that U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are in contact with Qalibaf. A day later, Trump said Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are involved in peace talks with Iran.