President Trump is getting increasingly agitated with his secretary of state and national security adviser for their proposals on how to stifle an apparent threat against U.S. personnel in Iran and other parts of the Middle East, The Washington Post reported.
Trump views Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton’s strategy as “warlike,” in the Post’s words, and feels their plans bypass his own thinking, an administration official with knowledge of the conversations told the Post.
“They are getting way out ahead of themselves, and Trump is annoyed,” the official told the Post. “There was a scramble for Bolton and Pompeo and others to get on the same page.”
Ever the deal-seeker, Trump is not on the same page as his top advisers, especially Bolton, who has pushed for regime change in Iran even before he joined the White House. Trump has taken the same approach to his administration’s efforts in Venezuela, holding fast to a belief that the U.S. should avoid involvement in other country’s expensive wars.
While Trump denied there was an “infighting” in a tweet on Wednesday, he reportedly doesn’t want to take any forceful action unless the Iranians make some sort of “big move,” according to the Post.
