Steve Schmidt: Donald Trump’s political situation means he will be forced to escalate with Iran

Longtime Republican strategist Steve Schmidt on Tuesday warned that President Donald Trump's precarious political situation in America will force him to escalate tensions with Iran following reported ballistic missile launches on two military bases inside Iraq that house U.S. forces.

Schmidt was interviewed by MSNBC's Chris Hayes.

"The genie is certainly out of the bottle now," Schmidt began.

"We're at the early stages of a hot war. It is a monumental moment that the Iranian military has launched a ballistic missile attack against U.S. military personnel at Iraqi bases in Iraq," he explained.

"It is almost certain that there will be a response from the United States," he predicted. "Donald Trump is not in a position to not be able to escalate from here."

Schmidt said, "I think the chances that the United States will allow a ballistic missile attack to go unanswered is very low."

"So we stand at the most dangerous moment in the Middle East that we have lived through in our lifetimes -- and there's been plenty of dangerous moments," he concluded.

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