Big-name conservative loses confidence in Trump’s war effort

President Donald Trump’s war against Iran appears to be bleeding support, with one prominent conservative media figure saying on Monday that it had become “apparent” the administration could not achieve its stated goals in the conflict.

“It is becoming apparent to the Trump administration that they are not going to be able to change the regime, unless you throw 10,000 ground troops into Iran, which is never going to happen,” political commentator Bill O’Reilly told NewsNation in comments flagged Tuesday by The Hill.

“So, the thinking is, we’ll make a deal, the deal will encompass inspectors going in to see that they aren’t enriching uranium, no ballistic missiles and [a] bunch of other things in return for a lightening up of the economic sanctions against Iran.”

Joining Fox News in 1996, O’Reilly would go on to become cable news’s “most popular host” for well over a decade before being ousted from the network in 2017 amid sexual misconduct allegations. Nevertheless, O’Reilly has remained an influential figure within conservative circles.

O’Reilly’s comments were strikingly similar to those made recently by U.S. and Israeli security officials, who, speaking anonymously to The Washington Post, revealed that the Trump administration’s primary goals in the Iran war had become “unlikely,” the outlet reported.

Trump has reportedly been looking for an off-ramp from the war he initiated late last month amid soaring energy prices. However, according to a former Trump security adviser, such an out may not exist.