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This is an adapted excerpt from the June 17 episode of “The Briefing with Jen Psaki.”
Since Israel launched attacks against Iran, and Iran responded in kind with its own attacks against Israel, there has been a growing list of questions and concerns about what is actually going on and what might happen over the next few months, days or even hours.
Last week, at the onset of the strikes, the Israeli military said that Israel’s objective was to take out Iran’s nuclear capabilities. However, since then, the Israeli military seems to have widened its targets, striking Iran’s oil and gas refineries and killing many of the leadership and intelligence officers inside Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
Trump, the “peacemaker,” started to send a different message, saying Israel’s attacks against Iran were “excellent” and that there was “more to come!”
Netanyahu has notably not ruled out any actions that would bring about regime change in Iran, and that has set off alarm bells and raised the specter of the United States officially joining Israel in this war.
Fears about that prospect are not unfounded. Reuters has reported that the U.S. military has begun bolstering its forces in the Middle East, including sending more fighter jets to the region.
So now the bigger question is this: What is Donald Trump’s endgame? Because, remember, for years Trump has branded himself as an anti-war peacemaker. He has repeatedly claimed that, right from the start, he was against the war in Iraq (which is a total lie), but in 2016, Trump stood out in part because he admitted the war in Iraq was a mistake that cost a lot of money and a lot of lives.
Trump continued to label himself a “peacemaker” in his first term and ran on that message in the 2024 election. During the campaign, he reiterated — time and again — that he was not only against the wars taking place around the globe, but that he would also use the power of the presidency to stop them.
Well, fast-forward to last week, and within an hour of Israel attacking Iran, Secretary of State Marco Rubio released this statement: “We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region … Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel.”
The Trump administration was declaring, loud and clear, that the U.S. had zero involvement in this dramatic escalation.
But that arm’s-length distance only lasted a few hours. The following morning, Trump the “peacemaker” started to send a different message, saying Israel’s attacks against Iran were “excellent” and that there was “more to come!”
Fast forward again to Monday, following a bloody weekend of crossfire between Israel and Iran, Trump abruptly left the G7 summit in Canada a day early after posting an ominous message online that appeared to suggest more carnage was to come in Iran.
Israel is eager for the U.S. to join this war because it wants to attack what’s considered the heart of Iran’s nuclear program, the Fordo fuel enrichment plant.
“Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”
Trump continued to post his escalations online Tuesday — using the pronoun “we” to describe Israel’s apparent success in targeting Iran. He also appeared to threaten to kill Iran’s supreme leader.
Now, there’s a very real issue at hand here that goes beyond just rhetoric. NBC News reports that Israel is eager for the U.S. to join this war because it wants to attack what’s considered the heart of Iran’s nuclear program, the Fordo fuel enrichment plant.
The plant is heavily fortified and built deep inside a mountain, which means only a 30,000-pound, American-made bomb carried by an American B-2 stealth bomber can even attempt to reach Fordo.
So, once again, I have to ask: What is Trump’s endgame here? Will the president deliver those bombs and thrust the United States into war? And is the goal just to destroy Fordo — or is it something larger than that?