President Donald Trump’s comments about the Iran war and scaling back military exercises with ally South Korea amid his talks with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un were raising serious questions on Monday.
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CNN White House correspondent Kristen Holmes, who Trump had snapped at during an Oval Office press conference earlier, pointed to why the president’s comments were fueling concerns.
“President Trump there saying that he had had some kind of communication or opened the door to communication with Kim Jong Un,” Holmes said. “And then shortly afterward, this announcement that they were scaling back the military exercises with our ally, South Korea.”
Holmes compared the move to when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the White House, and it was anticipated he would request the U.S. help provide more missiles.
“The day before, President Trump talked to President Putin,” she said. “And because of that phone call the next day, he denied giving Zelensky Patriot missiles, citing conversations that he had had with Vladimir Putin. So this is a real and justifiable question.”
Holmes added that this has also triggered scrutiny over “the other crisis that he is facing” — the Iran war.
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“The idea that North Korea has been stockpiling illegal nuclear weapons — what message is that sending to Iran that he is willing to support North Korea in this, as they stockpile these illegal nuclear weapons, or at least look the other way?” Holmes asked.
“Now, all of this is coming at a point where President Trump seems to be at least foreign policy-wise, completely spiraling,” she added. “And that is likely due to what we are seeing here at home. There is no end in sight to this war in Iran. And in fact, President Trump is saying the same thing today that he said five months ago: that they want to negotiate, that they’re not going to come up with a deal that he likes, and that the baseline premise of this entire war is to make sure Iran doesn’t get nuclear weapons.”
As the unpopular war has dragged on for five months, Americans have become more frustrated.
“Now, part of the reason he is likely having so many issues, particularly when it comes to Iran and answering these questions, is this poll, the poll that we did at the end of last month in which we asked voters if they believe that the Iran war was worth both the U.S. lives lost and the financial cost. And 74% of Americans said no,” Holmes said. “Those polls are not lost on this White House.”
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