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riversedge

(80,778 posts)
Tue Mar 17, 2026, 02:39 PM Mar 17

White House 'unraveling' as Trump realizes he doesn't 'hold the cards': DC insiders [View all]



White House 'unraveling' as Trump realizes he doesn’t 'hold the cards': DC insiders



https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/white-house-unraveling-as-trump-realizes-he-doesn-t-hold-the-cards-dc-insiders/ar-AA1YOVWT?ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=a7ba0abefb3c46fa96e1676d6e730264&ei=16&cvpid=69b99bd787a4467c97aaf0ef62e65b51


Story by Alex Henderson • 7h


.................


The Atlantic's Jonathan Lemire, during a Tuesday morning, March 17

...........And some Washington insiders interviewed by Politico fear that Trump in way over his head with Iran.

Politico's Megan Messerly, in an article published on March 17, reports, "When the U.S. started firing Tomahawk missiles at Iran late last month, many of President Donald Trump's allies hoped it would be a quick, surgical operation, similar to last year's strike against Iran's nuclear facilities or the ouster of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in January. Though uneasy, they were reassured by the belief that Trump's open-ended objectives gave him the flexibility to declare victory whenever he saw fit. Now, more than two weeks into the campaign, some of those allies believe the president no longer controls how, or when, the war ends."

Messerly adds, ............
.................

A Trump White House source, interviewed on condition of anonymity, told Politico that although U.S. forces "kicked (Iran's) a—— in the field," they "hold the cards now."

According to that interviewee, "They decide how long we're involved — and they decide if we put boots on the ground. And it doesn't seem to me that there's a way around that, if we want to save face."

Another anonymously quoted source, described by Messerly as someone "familiar with the U.S. operation in Iran," told Politico, "The terms have changed. The offramps don't work anymore because Iran is driving the asymmetric action…. For the White House, now the only easy day was yesterday. They need to worry about an unraveling.".................
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