President Donald Trump apparently decided to bomb Iran and “get in on the action” Saturday after watching Fox News praise Israel for striking the country earlier this month, says New York Times reporter Helene Cooper, who cited Pentagon and Trump administration officials.
Cooper argued Monday on MSNBC’s “All In With Chris Hayes” that Trump previously prided himself on being a noninterventionist, and said he maintained an “America First” perspective even after Israel attacked Iran on June 13, but that a shift occurred the very next day.
“One official told me that it started as early as the next morning when President Trump woke up and watched Fox News and started to see how well Israel was being presented as doing,” Cooper, who also spoke with U.S. military and Pentagon officials, said Monday.
“Israel was hitting all of these Iranian sites, it was taking out military commanders, nuclear scientists, and that was being presented on Fox as this huge victory,” she continued.
“And he decided that he wanted a piece of it,” she said of Trump.
Cooper explained that the president then started taking credit for some of Israel’s operations, citing a June 17 social media post in which Trump said “We” have taken control of Iran’s airspace, and that a meeting with his national security advisers cemented the decision to enter the war.
“He came back early from that G7 meeting and called his advisers ― his national security advisers to meet with him,” Cooper said Monday. “And by then he had pretty much decided that he wanted to get his piece, you know, get in on the action.”
Cooper contributed to a Times report on Sunday that expanded on the matter.
The report noted that Trump had “warned” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to strike Iran while a nuclear deal with the country was scheduled for discussion, only to change his tune after Israel killed top Iranian officials on June 13.
“They paid close attention to the statements of Tucker Carlson, the influential podcaster and former Fox News host, who was vehemently opposed to the United States joining Israel in taking on Iran,” the Times reported, adding Carlson’s pushback “infuriated” Trump.
“The president was closely monitoring Fox News, which was airing wall-to-wall praise of Israel’s military operation and featuring guests urging Mr. Trump to get more involved,” the outlet noted. “Several Trump advisers lamented the fact that Mr. Carlson was no longer on Fox, which meant that Mr. Trump was not hearing much of the other side of the debate.”
The Times reported that the Trump administration was monitoring how his base was reacting on social media to the prospect of a new U.S. war, which has divided the MAGA movement into staunch noninterventionist and seeming pro-war camps.
Trump claimed Tuesday morning that he will try to stop Israel from further attacking Iran after confirming that the ceasefire he touted Monday had already been violated by both sides.
He further told reporters that a new tentative ceasefire is “in effect.”
