Officials Dispute Trump’s Strained Account Of Iran Strike Decision

Observers have noted Trump’s claim to have stopped the airstrikes as the clock was ticking down — on Twitter he said there were just ten minutes left for him to make a decision — and that only then did he realize that there would be approximately 150 casualties from the strike. This, he said, would be a disproportionate response to Iran’s downing of an unmanned drone.

As Fox News’ Shep Smith noted, “Something is wrong here.” The network’s reporting suggested that Trump should already have been aware of the possible casualties, as common sense would suggest, far earlier than ten minutes before the launch. National security lawyer Bradley Moss argued that, if true, Trump’s account shows a “total breakdown in process.”