THE PLAYERS: He says that he said, "Don't go in!"

TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2025

Except he didn't say that: Last Friday, in Morristown, New Jersey, there he went again!

Almost surely, the decision to bomb Iran had apparently already been made. As a possible part of a multifaceted feint, the president was heading off for a relaxing weekend at his Bedminster country club.

After landing at Morristown Municipal Airport, the president took questions from reporters. For unknown reasons, NBC's Vaughn Hillyard tossed him a misleading softball about his position, way back in 2002, on the impending war in Iraq.

By our lights, Hillyard's presentation was grossly misleading. In his response, the president took it and ran:

HILLYARD (6/20/25): Twenty years ago, you were skeptical of a Republican administration that attacked a Middle East country on the idea of questionable intelligence of weapons of mass destruction. How is this moment different with Iran?

TRUMP: ...I was very much opposed to Iraq. I was—I said it loud and clear, but I was a civilian, but I got a lot of publicity. But I was very much opposed to the Iraq war, and I actually did say, "Don't go in. Don't go in. Don't go in."

I actually did say, "Don't go in," the president said.

Except he didn't say that. He didn't say any such thing in the run-up to the war in Iraq.

Journalistically, this matter was litigated long ago, back in the day when Candidate Trump made his first ran for the White House. At that time, it became obvious that he hadn't opposed the war in Iraq, and certainly not in the full-throated way he still likes to say he recalls.

More than twenty years later, there the president went again! The next day, the attack on Iran's nuclear sites proceeded, with the president stepping forward to claim a degree of success which may or may not have occurred.

("Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.")

The day before the strike on Ira, he stood on the tarmac in New Jersey. 

I said it loud and clear, the president said. I actually did say, "Don't go in. Don't go in. Don't go in."

In fact, he didn't do any such thing. And he didn't actually say that.

How will history judge Saturday's attack on Iran? Assuming "history" exists in the future, the bombing attack may be judged as a major geopolitical success.

Or then again, possibly not! That will depend, at least in part, on the judgments and the decisions which are made from here. 

Were Iran's enrichment facilities completely obliterated? Everyone seems to agree that no such assessment can be made at this point. But whatever may have happened to those facilities—even if the facilities have been destroyed—the major players who got us here are going to remain.

President Trump will stay in place; so will Vice President Vance. So will the president's cabinet members and his informal advisers.

The mainstream press corps will stay in place. So will the various players seen on the Fox News Channel.

The Democratic Party will still be there, with its officials inclined to argue about tangential legalisms. And we denizens of Blue America will still be in place, perhaps failing to see, right to the end, the ways our own imperfect judgments helped create a world in which President Trump, and his associates, will be making the major decisions as this matter moves forward.

President Trump remains unchanged. So does the problem he seems to have with the task of making accurate statements.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will, most likely, remain—and it's as we showed you in yesterday's report. In a move straight outta Orwell, he offered this, on Sunday morning, in the wake of the attacks:

SECRETARY HEGSETH (6/22/25): Thanks to President Trump's bold and visionary leadership and his commitment to peace through strength, Iran's nuclear ambitions have been obliterated.

Many presidents have dreamed of delivering the blow to Iran's nuclear program and none could until President Trump. The operation President Trump planned was bold and it was brilliant.

[...]

President Trump said, No nukes. He seeks peace, and Iran should take that path. He sent out a Truth last night saying this: "Any retaliation by Iran against the United States of America will be met with force far greater than what was witnessed tonight." Signed, "The President of the United States, Donald J. Trump."

President Trump had "sent out a Truth!" Incredibly, that's what Hegseth actually said.

Incredibly, that's what he fellow actually said. In the process, he invented a new piece of Orwellian language.

("He is such a boy," a young Bulgarian woman once said. As we noted yesterday, we kept flashing on her words in the wake of Hegseth's statement.)

At least for now—and possibly for much longer than that—the bombing mission on Iran has changed the shape of the American discourse:

We're so old that we can even remember the political murders in Minnesota! Beyond that, it's as we noted in Saturday's report. We can even remember the day when Vice President Vance engaged in this astonishing bit of ugly political conduct:

Vance Blames L.A. Violence on California Democrats and Disparages Padilla

Eight days ago, Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a news conference and handcuffed by federal agents after he interrupted Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, at the Wilshire Federal Building in Los Angeles.

At the same building on Friday, Vice President JD Vance disparaged Mr. Padilla for engaging in “political theater” and called him by the wrong name.

“Well, I was hoping Jose Padilla would be here to ask a question, but unfortunately, I guess he decided not to show up because there wasn’t the theater,” Mr. Vance said during a news conference in response to a reporter. “I think everybody realizes that’s what this is. It’s pure political theater.”

Mr. Vance’s spokeswoman later said that he misspoke when he said the senator’s name.

[...]

Later Friday, a spokeswoman for Mr. Vance said the vice president misspoke when he said Mr. Padilla’s name.

“He must have mixed up two people who have broken the law,” said Taylor Van Kirk, the spokeswoman.

Jose Padilla is the name of a man who was convicted of terrorism conspiracy in 2007 after being arrested in Chicago on suspicion of planning to set off a radioactive dirty bomb.

Astonishing! A person could always imagine that the Vice President had misspoken unintentionally when he bungled the senator's first name.

The astonishing statement by the press spokesperson lay any such thoughts to rest. It also serves to remind us of the vast cultural problem our flailing nation still faces.

Bombs have fallen in what may come to be seen as an historically significant mission. Or then again, possibly not!

The way the current situation plays out will depend, in very large part, on future decisions made by people like Hegseth and Vance—and of course, by President Trump himself.

Should those of us in our flailing nation have confidence in what will come next? It seems to us that the answer is no. In fact, imperfect judgment flows like a mighty stream from elements of the American nation—and that even include us Blues.

Some facilities in Iran are gone, but the major players remain. As we noted yesterday, the Middle East is "a story without an ending." There is still no way to know how events will unfold from here.

Some sites are gone, but the story remains. As the week continues, we'll continue to offer some thoughts about the deeply flawed American tribes who do, in fact, remain.

This afternoon: We owe you reports from last week

Tomorrow: Bluster and fury