For all of his saber-rattling at Iran, Donald Trump is desperately looking for a way out of the war he initiated four weeks ago now that he is not finding it to be the cakewalk he anticipated, according to MS NOW’s Jonathan Lemire.
On Friday morning, the “Morning Joe” co-host reported that a recent counterattack by Iran drove home to the president that the leadership of on the Middle Eastern country has the upper hand — and he may have painted himself into a corner.
“The president, yeah, he wanted a quick victory, he wanted to put another scalp on the wall,” Lemire told the panel. “Like, you know, he wanted to have another win like Maduro. He's not gotten that. And now he's playing this game.”
“There was very little surprise yesterday,” he said of Trump’s press availability. “He extended the deadline. Again. He doesn't want to do this in terms of that obliteration that he keeps threatening. And I think he was really spooked when Iran hit the Qatari LNG plant because that showed him that they have a big say over the energy crisis, energy markets, now and potentially for years to come.”
“He's looking for an off-ramp, but at the same time, keep sending ground troops to the region, at least as a negotiating tactic, threatening he may go in with boots on the ground, which of course would be a real escalation, potentially very bloody for Americans,” he predicted.