President Donald Trump's comments about the Iran war and scaling back military exercises with ally South Korea amid his talks with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un were raising serious questions on Monday.
CNN White House correspondent Kristen Holmes, who Trump had snapped at during an Oval Office press conference earlier, pointed to why the president's comments were fueling concerns.
"President Trump there sayingthat he had had some kind ofcommunication or opened the doorto communication with Kim Jong Un," Holmes said. "And then shortly afterward,this announcement that they werescaling back the militaryexercises with our ally, South Korea."
Holmes compared the move to when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the White House, and it was anticipated he would request the U.S. help provide more missiles.
"The daybefore, President Trump talkedto President Putin," she said. "And becauseof that phone call the next day,he denied giving Zelensky Patriot missiles, citingconversations that he had hadwith Vladimir Putin. So this isa real and justifiable question."
Holmes added that this has also triggered scrutiny over "the other crisis that he is facing" — the Iran war.
"Theidea that North Korea has beenstockpiling illegal nuclearweapons — what message is thatsending to Iran that he iswilling to support North Koreain this, as they stockpile theseillegal nuclear weapons, or atleast look the other way?" Holmes asked.
"Now,all of this is coming at a pointwhere President Trump seems tobe at least foreign policy-wise,completely spiraling," she added. "And thatis likely due to what we areseeing here at home. There is noend in sight to this war in Iran. And in fact, President Trump is saying the same thing today that he said five months ago: that they want to negotiate, that they're not going to come up with a deal that he likes, and that the baseline premise of this entire war is to make sure Iran doesn't get nuclear weapons."
As the unpopular war has dragged on for five months, Americans have become more frustrated.
"Now, part ofthe reason he is likely havingso many issues, particularlywhen it comes to Iran andanswering these questions, isthis poll, the poll that we didat the end of last month inwhich we asked votersif they believe that the Iranwar was worth both the U.S.lives lost and the financialcost. And 74% of Americans saidno," Holmes said. "Those polls are not lost onthis White House."