Sen. Jon Ossoff said Wednesday that President Donald Trump and his national security team have made a “giant mess for our country” and that “what’s really chilling” are Trump’s “threats to escalate post-election,” speaking on MS NOW’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell after Trump told a Lubbock, Texas, rally that the Iran war could end when he chooses.
“Well, the reality, Lawrence, is that that bluster from the failed commander in chief is meant to deflect and distract from the fact that this is a strategic debacle” of the kind former President Barack Obama worked to avoid through diplomacy, Ossoff said. “And so the president gets out there and blusters that he can end this whenever he wants to. The reality is that the president and his national security team have made a giant mess for our country. And what’s really chilling are his threats to escalate post-election. And that just speaks to how important it is that we elect majorities in both chambers of Congress who can check and balance this out of control, feckless, corrupt president.” He closed by urging viewers to donate at electjon.com, his campaign site.
O’Donnell had framed the exchange around Trump’s recent rally line that the war will end when he wants it to end, which O’Donnell said implies Trump does not yet want it over. Trump said: “It could be over whenever I want it to be over. Somebody asked me before, when will the war in Iran end? I said, ‘Whenever I want it to end.'” He added that it would be “very quick” but must “end properly,” with what he described as a total statement that Iran would never have a nuclear weapon.
Ossoff’s “threats to escalate post-election” line tracks reporting that U.S. and Israeli planners have prepared options for renewed strikes after the Nov. 3 midterms. ABC News, citing two Israeli sources, reported on Oct. 22 that the Israeli Defense Forces and the U.S. military have drawn up plans for renewed joint strikes almost certainly after the midterms, and that The New York Times was first to report that planning. One Israeli source told ABC, “Hunting season is open as soon as the elections end and it’s obvious that they’re not going to wait long.” The sources said the decision is “only for Trump to decide,” that strikes could hit petrochemical facilities and nuclear sites such as Pickaxe Mountain, and that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu favors renewed action aimed ultimately at regime change. The Pentagon declined to comment to ABC.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told ABC that “The United States will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the midterm elections.” Asked about planning reports, a White House official said the administration does not comment on “sensitive military plans that may or may not exist” and that Trump “keeps all options on the table” to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. A Central Command spokesman, Capt. Tim Hawkins, said of related personnel moves: “We regularly move U.S. service members and assets to optimize mission readiness. We do not discuss related movements for operational security reasons.”
The Wall Street Journal separately reported that the United States has warned Gulf Arab governments, through diplomatic and military channels, to prepare for a possible short, intense renewal of military operations after the midterms, according to people briefed on the conversations. People familiar with Trump’s thinking told the Journal he has not decided to proceed but is leaning toward a large post-election attack that could target Iranian infrastructure and nuclear sites. The Journal also reported Trump saying last week, “We may do another little Epic Fury,” referring to the spring bombing campaign, “Or they’ll agree.”
The war’s cost has also figured in the final week of the midterm campaign. An Oct. 16 Central Command estimate reported to Congress and obtained by The Hill and Stars and Stripes puts direct wartime costs at about $47.1 billion through mid-October, excluding base damage. Stars and Stripes reported the figure as up about $3.5 billion from $43.6 billion through Sept. 3, with about $11.9 billion in incurred operating costs. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly survey put regular gasoline at $4.269 a gallon for the week of Oct. 26, still $1.234 above a year earlier. Sen. Jack Reed, ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said this week the war “must end” and that “not a single objective has been achieved,” according to CQ Roll Call.
On The Last Word, Ossoff, a Georgia Democrat seeking re-election on Nov. 3 against Republican Rep. Mike Collins, contrasted Trump’s early victory claims with the unfinished conflict and cast Democratic Senate and House majorities as a check on further escalation.
Ossoff’s labels — “giant mess,” “failed commander in chief,” “out of control, feckless, corrupt president,” and “strategic debacle” — are his characterizations. Trump’s Lubbock statement that the war ends when he wants, the White House line that the United States will not strike before the midterms while keeping options open afterward, and anonymous-source reporting by the Journal, the Times and ABC on post-election strike options are on the record, but none of them amounts to a final decision by Trump to resume strikes, and Congress has not authorized a renewed campaign.