Tamara Keith and Amy Walter on Trump's shifting messaging on Iran war

## Summary
NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter join Geoff Bennett to discuss the latest political news, including President Trump’s shifting deadlines and threats on Iran, questions about his messaging on the war and new polls showing his approval rating slipping amid economic concerns. That's Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report With Amy Walter and Tamara Keith of NPR. Amy Walter: Yes, if you were looking for that press conference to help answer the question where are we going in the Iran war, you would not have gotten an answer. The president said in that press conference today Iran will not become a nuclear power, but did not answer the question about how we will ensure that will be the case.

## Article Content
NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter join Geoff Bennett to discuss the latest political news, including President Trump’s shifting deadlines and threats on Iran, questions about his messaging on the war and new polls showing his approval rating slipping amid economic concerns.

Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.

Geoff Bennett:

President Trump's shifting deadlines on Iran and his renewed threats today are raising fresh questions about his messaging on the war.

To discuss that and more, we turn now to our Politics Monday duo. That's Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report With Amy Walter and Tamara Keith of NPR.

It's always great to see you.

Tamara Keith, National Public Radio:

Hello.

Amy Walter, The Cook Political Report:

Good to be here.

Geoff Bennett:

So, Amy, let's start with you.

What stood out to you from President Trump's press conference today?

Amy Walter:

Yes, if you were looking for that press conference to help answer the question where are we going in the Iran war, you would not have gotten an answer.

I know, in Liz's piece, she pulled out the quote, which I think really said it all, asking, are we ramping up or are we backing off? And the president said, I don't know. We don't really know where we're going on this.

I do think it is also telling that here we are, what is this now, a month...

Tamara Keith:

More than a month.

Amy Walter:

More than a month. And I think what voters really want to know, what Americans really want to understand is, when are we going to decide that we have made either a deal or an off-ramp or have completed the mission?

The president said in that press conference today Iran will not become a nuclear power, but did not answer the question about how we will ensure that will be the case. Does that involve having troops on the ground to take the nuclear material or will it be through a process of diplomacy?

Geoff Bennett:

And, Tam, did he say anything that clarified a broader strategy in Iran, such that a strategy exists?

Tamara Keith:

No.

He did say that he has a strategy, he has a plan, but he is not going to tell people what the plan is, because, if he did, then -- but that can be a tell more than anything else. This was the second time in two weeks that President Trump used the trappings of the presidency, a solo press conference in the Briefing Room last week and an address to the nation.

These are sort of the big tools of the bully pulpit of the presidency. And both times, we came away wondering, why exactly did he do this? What was the point of it? And part of it is that, before the war, he didn't really do that buildup, didn't sell it to the American people, and some of that is now attempting to happen after the fact.

But I think truly what today was about, he wasn't there to talk about strategy, he wasn't there to talk about what's next. He was there to wrap himself in the glory of that incredible rescue mission of those two airmen. And that was really his focus. That's why he had the military leaders there with him in the Briefing Room. That's what he was there to talk about. And he did so in great detail.

Geoff Bennett:

And, Amy, when it comes to the polling, we are seeing signs of softness even among Republicans.

Amy Walter:

Yes.

Geoff Bennett:

How significant is that?

Amy Walter:

Yes.

Well, the president's approval rating overall, if you look at the average, he is now at the sub-40 percent approval rating mark, which is the lowest of his presidency. And how he got there isn't that Democrats don't like him anymore. They never have liked him.

Independents have soured on him a little bit more. But what you're seeing is a softening among Republicans. I don't think this means that Republicans are saying, oh, I can't wait to go support Democrats now. What it is saying is that they too are feeling this frustration.

What are we doing in Iran? How come gas is so expensive? And, P.S., I thought we were going to talk about the economy and making lives, our lives more affordable. And, as such, those things really aren't happening. I think the president also said during this press conference that Americans would be willing to endure higher gas prices as long as it meant that Iran does not have any more ability to produce nuclear weapons.

I don't know that the American public has been told that that's what they should expect.

Geoff Bennett:

Yes. And gas is now above $4 a gallon nationally.

Amy Walter:

Yes.

Geoff Bennett:

How does that change the political calculus here?

Tamara Keith:

Right, $4 a gallon is a lot. Just to put that into perspective, I was on vacation this past week. I was in California, where it's even higher, rented a minivan, filled up the minivan. It was more than $100 -- or it was just about $100 to fill up that minivan.

So that's something that Americans are experiencing. When you cross that thr

---

## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- Geoff Bennett: How significant is that?

### Areas for Consideration
- And the problem for President Trump and his party is that the part of the president's affordability agenda that he was most animated about, the thing that he cared about the most, that he would talk about at length without even being asked was $2-a-gallon gas is going to be the thing that brings down your costs.

### Implications
- They may contain errors.
- The president said in that press conference today Iran will not become a nuclear power, but did not answer the question about how we will ensure that will be the case.
- Does that involve having troops on the ground to take the nuclear material or will it be through a process of diplomacy?
- I don't know that the American public has been told that that's what they should expect.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers amy, walter, geoff topics. Notable strengths include discussion of amy. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1407.