Maggie Haberman Says Trump Is Hurting Himself by Being All Over the Place on Iran: ‘The Public Is Confused’ 

CNN’s Maggie Haberman said President Donald Trump and his administration are doing themselves no favors with their shifting explanations regarding the Iran war.

The U.S. and Israel began bombing Iran on Feb. 28, since which time administration officials have offered nearly a dozen justifications for the war, but mainly settled on the alleged nuclear threat that Iran posed. That rationale is at odds with comments Trump made after joint U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last year, which the president said at the time were “totally obliterated.”

On Monday, Trump issued an ultimatum to the Iranian government, demanding that they come to an agreement with the U.S. “shortly” and reopen the Strait of Hormuz “immediately,” or the U.S. would begin bombing civilian infrastructure. He even said that “good progress” had been made. Hours later, however, it was reported that the president has told aides he envisions a scenario in which the war ends with Iran still controlling the strait. In response to Trump’s demand, Iran bombed a Kuwaiti oil tanker in the Persian Gulf.

Haberman appeared on Monday’s edition of The Source on CNN, where host Kaitlan Collins asked about the administration’s claims it is negotiating with the Iranians. In particular, Collins asked about remarks by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said talks are happening but that he is not especially optimistic.

“Obviously, there’s a real question of the sense of how the administration is actually feeling about these talks that they keep talking about, because you listen to Rubio and he says, ‘Yeah, there’s a possibility, but a probability that this doesn’t actually work out.’ But the president himself has sounded very hopeful between last night and today.”

“Yeah, I think, Kaitlin, those two are both reflecting sort of their views of the world generally, and certainly in terms of the secretary of state, how he views Iran,” Haberman responded. “I think this whole time he has been skeptical that there could be a deal here, and he is making that clear. I think he doesn’t want to get ahead of the president. The president has consistently suggested, well, I shouldn’t say consistently, because he’s also said that they’re tapping us along and versions of that. But he has sounded more optimistic about doing what other presidents could not than other members of his administration, certainly for the most part.”

Haberman went on to say that Trump has not clearly stated what the endgame is and has perplexed Americans, who mostly oppose the war.

“But what exactly the endgame here is hasn’t been articulated,” she said. “There have been several endgames mentioned. And it’s understandable that the public is confused.”

Watch above via CNN.

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