US President Donald Trump is angry with his National Security Advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who are pushing the United States into a military confrontation with Iran, a report has revealed.
According to several US officials, Trump prefers a diplomatic approach to resolving tensions with Iran and wants to speak directly with the Islamic Republic’s leaders, but certain hawks in his administration, particularly Bolton and Pompeo, are preparing for war, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.
Last week, Trump grew angry and about what he sees as warlike planning that is getting ahead of his own thinking, according to a senior administration official with knowledge of conversations Trump had regarding Bolton and Pompeo.
“They are getting way out ahead of themselves, and Trump is annoyed,” the official said. “There was a scramble for Bolton and Pompeo and others to get on the same page.”
Bolton had been a vocal advocate of regime change in Iran before joining the White House last year. Pompeo, a former CIA director, believes in gunboat diplomacy and strong-arm tactics towards Iran.
Trump “wants to talk to the Iranians; he wants a deal” and is open to negotiation with the Iranian government, the official told the Post.
“He is not comfortable with all this ‘regime change’ talk,” said the official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.
The New York Times reported on Monday that Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan put forward a plan which he had updated on Bolton’s orders — last week in a meeting of top national security officials that envisions deploying some 120,000 American troops to the Middle East region “should Iran attack American forces or accelerate work on nuclear weapons.”
Trump rejected the New York Times report as fake news.
"I think it's fake news, OK? Now, would I do that? Absolutely. But we have not planned for that. Hopefully we're not going to have to plan for that. And if we did that, we'd send a hell of a lot more troops than that," Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.
‘Trump is getting sick of Bolton’
Commenting to Press TV, American writer and political analyst Daniel Patrick Welch said he agrees with the Iranians who believe that the US is just attempting to scare Iran back to the table.
He stated that the Pentagon hates Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's cowboy approach.
“No way they would allow a huge influx of troops in the Middle East,” he told Press TV on Tuesday.
The analyst added, however, “they have no shortage of evil motives... and they have all played a part at some point in history.”
"Don't get me wrong," he continued, "there are no doves in the US political establishment when it comes to Iran, or any other country for that matter. War seems like good business and unquestioned policy for those on both sides of the aisle. But these are the real wackjobs. I mean, even Trump is getting sick of Bolton."
Press TV
