TRUMP’S VERY PUBLIC INNER DIALOGUE ON IRAN. On Thursday morning, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that the United States would attack Iran that evening. “The United States will be hitting Iran … VERY HARD TONIGHT,” Trump wrote. The president added that the U.S. might also take over the critical oil facility on Kharg Island “at some point in the not too distant future.” Within half an hour, Trump was speaking to the hosts of Fox & Friends. He complained that much news coverage has downplayed the U.S.’s accomplishments in the war, specifically the enormous damage that has been inflicted on Iran. “They’re finished,” he said of the country’s leaders. But he also expressed a reluctance to escalate the fighting. When he was asked about attacking bridges and power plants in Iran, he said, “I’d rather not do it, because once you do that, the people suffer.”Trump noted that a host had earlier brought up attacking the water supply. “I heard you mentioning water,” he said. “Water is really a devastating loss for them. I could do that in one minute, but the problem is the people won’t be able to drink water. What are they going to do? I don’t want to do that.”
Then there was the problem of American public opinion, which has settled roughly 60% to 40% disapproval of the war. “My preference has always been to take Kharg Island,” Trump said. “I don’t know that America has the stomach for it, to be honest with you. I think they’d like to see us come home.”
