HOW FAR WILL TRUMP ESCALATE THE WAR IN IRAN?
A White House insider says the president has floated the nuclear option
Four months into a difficult air war with Iran, President Donald Trump’s popularity is sinking among American voters. I have been told that in a recent secret meeting in the White House, he began speculating, albeit vaguely, about a nuclear option that could perhaps bring a quicker end to the war.
It should be said immediately that it was just inside talk to senior staff by a frustrated president. On Monday night Trump was intensely booed at the NBA Finals game between the Knicks and the Spurs at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and polls have consistently indicated that the Democrats will return to a majority in the House this fall and might flip enough Republican seats to gain control of the Senate.
If that happens, there will likely be calls for impeachment proceedings. There is no mixed-martial-arts fight, basketball game, or World Cup soccer match that can change the scenario. Iran has been able to continue producing drones and missiles in underground factories during US and Israeli bombing attacks, and Trump is stuck in a war he may not be able to win before the midterms. The immense US and Israeli intelligence failure about Iran’s underground capabilities has rarely been discussed by the Trump administration as the war goes on with no resolution in sight.
