{"id":12689,"date":"2026-05-09T13:12:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T13:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/05\/09\/the-iran-war-has-changed-trumps-talking-points-have-not-cnn\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T13:12:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T13:12:03","slug":"the-iran-war-has-changed-trumps-talking-points-have-not-cnn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/05\/09\/the-iran-war-has-changed-trumps-talking-points-have-not-cnn\/","title":{"rendered":"The Iran war has changed. Trump\u2019s talking points have not – CNN"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Like Lucy with the football, President Donald Trump keeps teasing that a deal to end the war with Iran is nearly over. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s one of a series of Iran talking points he has been repeating for months. <\/p>\n

The war itself has changed \u2014 evolving from one of shock and awe to a monthlong ceasefire in which each side has imposed a costly blockade on the other. <\/p>\n

But Trump\u2019s talking points have stayed the same. The ideas he repeats include the key points that the US is in charge; Iran\u2019s military is devastated; and things are going to be over pretty soon. <\/p>\n

All this makes it very difficult to know how seriously to take his assurances about the proximity of a deal. <\/p>\n

The White House messaging on the war has been ineffective, if dour<\/a> polling<\/a> is to be believed, but Trump\u2019s own adherence to his script has been unshakeable. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be over quickly,\u201d Trump said during a tele-rally for a Republican candidate in Georgia this week. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s got a very good chance of ending, and if it doesn\u2019t end, we have to go back to bombing the hell out of them,\u201d he told PBS earlier in the week. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tease he has employed over and over again since the US and Israel first attacked Iran. <\/p>\n

\u201cVery soon,\u201d he told reporters on March 9. <\/p>\n

The specific timeframe has slipped from the four to six weeks Trump projected early in the campaign, but it has always remained just off in the distance. <\/p>\n

Back in April, CNN\u2019s \u201cInside Politics\u201d made a montage of times<\/a> Trump had said the war would be over soon. He hasn\u2019t stopped the tease in the weeks since. <\/p>\n

\"A<\/picture> <\/div>\n

Trump has not shied away from using the word \u201cwar\u201d to describe military conflict, which remains unauthorized by Congress. But he prefers to describe it as something less. <\/p>\n

\u201cI call it a skirmish because that\u2019s what it is, it\u2019s a skirmish. And we\u2019re doing unbelievably well,\u201d Trump said at the White House on Wednesday. <\/p>\n

The word skirmish is relatively new, but the idea around it has been a constant. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a short excursion into something that should have been done for 47 years,\u201d he told reporters on March 7 on Air Force One. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo we did a little detour and it\u2019s working out very nicely,\u201d he said at the White House on May 4. <\/p>\n

President Trump has at various points called the Iran war by various names, including a “skirmish,” a “detour,” an “excursion.”<\/p>\n

” data-duration=”00:12″ data-source-html=” \u2022 Source: CNN<\/a> <\/span>” data-fave-thumbnails=”{“big”: { “uri”: “https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/videothumbnails\/78055652-23289747-generated-thumbnail.jpg?c=16×9” }, “small”: { “uri”: “https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/videothumbnails\/78055652-23289747-generated-thumbnail.jpg?c=16×9″ } }” data-vr-video=”false” data-show-html=”” data-byline-html=”<\/p>\n

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By <\/p>\n
\"\"<\/span><\/a>Zachary B. Wolf<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

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