‘I Don’t Know’: Trump’s Iran Negotiator Says He Has No Idea How War Will End
Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, said he does not know how or when the war against Iran will end.
Along with Jared Kushner – President Donald Trump’s son-in-law – Witkoff had been negotiating with Iranian officials regarding the country’s nuclear program. As the talks were ongoing, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered their respective militaries to bomb Iran, just as they had done last summer. The latest air campaign, however, is far more expansive.
More than 1,000 Iranians have been killed since last Saturday, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and dozens of top officials. An elementary school was hit in southern Iran, killing at least 175 people, mostly children. Trump administration officials reportedly believe the U.S. was responsible, though so far the president denies it. Seven Americans have been killed by Iranian retaliatory strikes.
Witkoff appeared on Tuesday’s Squawk on the Street on CNBC, where host Sarah Eisen asked about the war’s end.
“So how do you see this ending, this war?” she asked.
“I don’t know, Sarah,” Witkoff replied. “I know this, that President Trump is the wrong guy to go up against. That’s what I know. He has drawn a red line, and that is that Iran cannot have a [nuclear] weapon. And yes, they say they don’t. They don’t want one. But all of their actions indicate the exact opposite. So, he’s just not the right guy to tangle with, and I would suggest they don’t.”
The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed that Iran is seeking to build a nuclear weapon. After the U.S. bombed several Iranian nuclear facilities last year, Trump deemed Iran’s nuclear program “totally obliterated.”
Watch above via CNBC.
New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!
Comments
↓ Scroll down for comments ↓