Saul Loeb/AP photo
President Donald Trump has grown increasingly “exasperated” as the war in Iran stretches into its sixth month, with NBC News reporting exclusively on Wednesday that the president recently erupted at top national security officials amid deep divisions inside his administration over how to proceed.
The report, citing a U.S. official and people familiar with the discussions, paints a picture of a divided White House. As one U.S. official put it, “After all this time, there is no unity.”
Trump exploded during a meeting with top national security officials last week over a lack of progress in Iran, yelling expletives, according to NBC News. The report says administration officials remain divided over whether the priority should be stopping Iran’s nuclear program, protecting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, or degrading Tehran’s missile and drone arsenal.
The same official warned the administration has “had a series of tactical victories,” but is “facing a strategic defeat without clear policy guidance or a decision about where this is going.”
Another person close to Trump told NBC News that the president has become increasingly discouraged by Iran’s refusal to strike a deal.
“The president is exasperated,” the ally said. “I don’t think he believed it was going to be this difficult to get the Iranians to agree to a deal. … There was not a real strategy for how long or what they should do to get to the endpoint.”
“He did not intend this to be a long, drawn-out war,” the ally added.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt disputed the report’s account that Trump lost his temper, telling NBC News, “This is false. The president has a great team whom he trusts, and everyone on the team knows he’s the final decision-maker.”
She added, “He is not going to stand by as they break the MOU, kill our soldiers and fire at our ships in the strait. So until that behavior changes, his behavior will not change… He’s locked and loaded to keep punishing Iran.”
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