President Donald Trump needs to act fast to solve a massive new problem, his failed diplomacy with Iran, a Democratic lawmaker warned Thursday morning.
Rep. Gabe Amo (D-RI) sounded the alarm about Trump's international diplomacy tactics during a discussion with CNN's John Berman.
"What's clearly happening is Donald Trump ... still can't stop the war that he started, and Americans are paying the price," said Amo. "My constituents are paying the price. And people across the region are less safe."
Amo, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, explained the problem as he saw it.
"[Trump] has not been focused on the hard work of diplomacy," he said, and has instead been obsessed with "planting the flag, claiming victory for weeks and weeks and weeks," he said.
Trump, according to Amo, exhibits a "dangerous" inconsistency by praising Iranian leaders one moment and calling them "scum" the next.
"I hope this administration puts a faith effort at the negotiation table so that we can stop this madness and end this war," he said.
"What does it say about the state of the ceasefire?" asked Berman.
"I think it was always fragile," said Amo, noting that smaller-scale fighting kept flaring up throughout the period. The bottom line, he added, is that "I would not take anything seriously from this administration with regard to milestones and accomplishments, because we have seen them go back on their word," all while Americans continue to suffer "at the grocery store, at the gas pump" from the economic instability the war is causing.
While all this is going on, he added, the Trump administration has "got this fairy tale of success in the military context and certainly at the table of diplomacy. The fact of the matter is, we haven't seen progress. And this is all because Donald Trump started a war."
"Look at the gas prices today," he added. "We are feeling the pain. The administration needs a real focus on diplomacy and the hard work."