After Iran forcefully retaliated for the U.S. strike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani last week, Donald Trump backed down from making an Oval Office address to the nation.
It was first reported by CNN that the president was planning a speech from the Oval Office after U.S. troops were targeted by Iranian missiles, but he appears to have had second thoughts.
White House aides were initially “making urgent preparations” for such a speech, but those plans quickly unraveled as events continued to deteriorate in the Middle East.
According to Kaitlan Collins of CNN, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Miller arrived at the White House late Tuesday in what looked to be the beginning prep stages for an address to the nation.
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Defense Secretary Esper just arrived at the White House carrying a large bag. Secretary Pompeo, seen reading in his car before he got out, also arrived.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) January 8, 2020
But not long after, Collins reported that those three officials and Vice President Mike Pence left the White House, and the administration said Trump would not be addressing the nation as U.S. troops come under attack by Iran.
All three officials and Vice President Pence just left the White House. The White House now says Trump will NOT address the nation tonight. https://t.co/OEaGIpUzpc
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) January 8, 2020
Everything Trump touches gets worse
No matter what area of politics or policy that Donald Trump touches, it gets immeasurably worse. The damage he’s done to American institutions will take a generation to fix.
So as U.S. troops come under fire by missiles in the Middle East, it may seem strange that the commander-in-chief isn’t putting himself in front of a camera to explain to the country what’s going on.
But on a night when America appears to be in the beginning stages of a war with Iran, the last thing the world needed was a speech from the unhinged and incompetent man who started this mess.
This fire that was created by Donald Trump doesn’t need anymore gasoline.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
