Congressman at a Loss After Trump Addresses the Nation: ‘I’m Not a Child Psychologist’

President Donald Trump delivered a major primetime address about the war in Iran on Wednesday, but not everyone was impressed.

Trump spoke for 20 minutes in a speech that many hoped would offer some clarity about the conflict. Instead, the president only repeated previous public remarks about it. He reiterated that the war will take another two to three weeks, demanded Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and also called on other countries to find a way to reopen the vital waterway, through which 20% of the world’s oil flows.

The president did not address the prospect of deploying soldiers, thousands of whom are either in or headed to the Middle East. Trump is reportedly mulling the seizure of Kharg Island, where Iran processes the vast majority of its oil exports.

After the speech, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) appeared on MS NOW, where Chris Hayes asked about potential ground forces.

“On the question of the use of ground troops, the only thing that I felt I took away – and again, I could be telling myself a lie here because anything can change – it did seem like that was not the direction things were going, a ground invasion,” Hayes said. “Did you get that sense?”

Moulton, a former Marine who served in Iraq, replied:

Chris, I’m not a child psychologist, so I can’t understand the mind of Donald Trump. But the reality is that we… have thousands and thousands of paratroopers headed to the Middle East or already arrived right now, makes me incredibly concerned, you know? I’ve talked to some of their parents. I know what some of those Marines are thinking because I’ve been in those same shoes. I’ve been on ships headed to the Middle East. But even in Iraq, for all the problems with that war, at least there was a plan. At least Congress had voted on it. At least the American people had weighed in. At least the generals had come before Congress and put forward a plan.

None of that exists today. And so, I think this could get a lot worse. We already saw oil futures spike, go much higher. Just during the course of his speech. But that’s just the price of oil. When more Americans start coming home in body bags, this is going to not only just get immeasurably worse for us, for our nation, for our troops, but it’s going to be harder for the president to get himself out.

Watch above via MS NOW.

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