The Trump administration is seeking tens of billions of dollars in supplemental appropriations for the Iran War, a war which the president and allies have repeatedly claimed is already won.
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JON OSSOF: Three weeks after you’d already said Iran’s military was destroyed and combat ineffective, you said, quote, “Operation Epic Fury was a historic and overwhelming victory.” You said Iran’s military had been rendered, quote, “combat ineffective for years to come.” And you stated, we had, quote, “achieved every single objective.” Were those accurate statements?
PETE HEGSETH: It certainly was on behalf of the men and women in uniform, a historic military victory over Iran.
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
That’s Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth answering Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff Tuesday as the administration asked for 67 billion more dollars from the Pentagon and for the Iran war. NPR’s Ron Elving joins us. Ron, thanks for being with us.
RON ELVING, BYLINE: Good to be with you, Scott.
SIMON: What do you make of more money for a war that has been declared won?
ELVING: You said it in that phrase you just used – a war declared won. There is a world of difference between declaring victory in a war and actually winning a war. In this case, the war is not even over, nor is it clear how it will end, so premature, at best, to call a winner. This week, the U.S. began counting its losses in the lives of servicemen and women and in amounts of money that would have been unthinkable not long ago. And here’s Pete Hegseth asking for still more unthinkable amounts in excess of that.
SIMON: The President attended what’s called the dignified transfer on Wednesday, and he commented to reporters on his way there.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We’re going to Dover. Yes. Some of you are going with us to honor our heroes, and they are, indeed, great heroes, actually. They said, and all of them said very strongly, we can’t let – you cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. They won’t have a nuclear weapon.
SIMON: Now, Ron, it’s uncommon for a president to, in effect, put words in the mouths of fallen service members, isn’t it?
ELVING: Uncommon, indeed, and arresting for many who heard it. Trump was making these fallen warriors the actors in the propaganda video that’s running in his head. He has them mouthing the line that he repeats daily, often several times, about Iran and its nuclear ambitions. Yet, he is no closer to foreclosing that prospect now than he was after his previous bombing campaign – the one he said had obliterated that Iranian program.
So what has changed is that American support for this war has plummeted. The war is not only below 50% approval, it’s at the wrong end of a 60/40 split. And when unpopularity gets that pronounced, it makes a difference in the next set of policy decisions and in upcoming elections, as well.
SIMON: The administration announced a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia this week to develop nuclear power. Is it still on?
ELVING: That, too, is far from clear. It did appear to be a done deal, but Trump suddenly added a condition this week saying the Saudis had to join the Abraham Accords, which would mean formal recognition of Israel and its right to exist. The truth is the effort to organize what are called moderate Arab states into an instrument of U.S. policy has not been enhanced by this war, which has brought damaging attacks on them and on U.S. assets in their countries.
SIMON: And Ron, last night, the White House Correspondents’ Association put on the dinner that had been canceled on April 25, when an assailant fired a gun. President spoke, I gather, for a little more than an hour. What stood out to you from last night?
ELVING: A little more than an hour and really on script and off script. President complained about his script, wondered who could have written some parts of it. Near the end of the speech, after he had insulted a number of correspondents, he did, essentially, repeat the ritual tribute to the freedom of the press and the First Amendment. And then he was also wearing, by the end of the speech, a Trump in 2028 hat.
SIMON: Meaning…
ELVING: Meaning, well, that perhaps he has not abandoned the ambition of a third term and one more monument on the Washington landscape, meaning, that dinner that you referenced last night just turns out to be one more that Trump felt he had to remodel.
SIMON: NPR senior contributor Ron Elving. Thanks so much.
ELVING: Thank you, Scott.
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