U.S. President Donald Trump walks alongside U.S. Vice President JD Vance, after delivering an address to the nation at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S. June 21, 2025, following U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/Pool
One MSNBC host said that she couldn't help but notice President Donald Trump seemed less confident when he spoke to the nation Saturday night about bombing Iran.
In a conversation with Washington Post reporter Carol Leonnig, host Katy Tur asked what her sources were saying about where the president's "head" was after Iran fired missiles at a U.S. air base in Qatar.
Loennig said those close to Trump say he feels "vindicated" for taking "very strong, bold steps," which she said were his favorite kinds of words.
He is "not apologetic or regretful" about the bombing, she added.
She cited a long-ago comment from former Trump national security adviser, John Bolton, that "the most unpleasant position is to be somewhere where he cannot reverse his decision the next day, and that is the one problematic thing for Donald Trump right now. He can't reverse this decision."
Tur recalled that to get him to authorize strikes in Syria, he had to be shown images of children being gassed during his first term.
"And just watching him on Saturday night as he was delivering the address to the nation, alerting us all of the decision to bomb these nuclear sites, there was something strange about his energy," said Tur.
Leonnig asked Tur what she would call his behavior on Saturday during the speech.
"He seemed maybe nervous," said Tur. "I don't know, he seemed tense and a little less — just a little less confident than he normally is when he's making those sorts of announcements. A little less sure of himself."
Leonnig recalled another Bolton comment that there are no take-backs in these situations.
"So, I would be nervous too. But the president also was basically relying on a group of people that are not really loyalists per se, but are hawks," she continued. "And he was, when he made his decision, he was basing it on the intelligence assessment, for example, of [United States Central Command (CENTCOM) commander,] General Eric Carrillo, who commands our forces in the Middle East and Central Command."
He was more pessimistic about Iran being able to produce nuclear bombs quickly, and that leaders there didn't want to.
That said, Trump's top leaders said publicly that national intelligence showed there were no plans to create a nuclear bomb at that time.
"He also relied on Benjamin Netanyahu, who said to him, I think actually in a kind of a goading way, remember, they tried to kill you twice," said Leonnig.
See the discussion in the video below or at the link here.