MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell on Thursday sharply criticized statements made by Donald Trump regarding the ongoing conflict with Iran, labeling one remark as "the stupidest statement a wartime president could ever make."
Trump recently stated that his "war on Iran will end very soon. It’s going to end very soon, as soon as I want it to end, it will end."
O'Donnell interpreted this statement as Trump asserting personal ownership and control over the conflict. "No wartime president of the United States has ever said, ‘As soon as I want the war to end, it will end,’" O'Donnell said. He further elaborated that Trump's remarks imply, "I don’t want the war to end today. I don’t want the war to end tomorrow. I don’t want the war to end next week."
According to O'Donnell, Trump's statement suggests, "It’s my war, and it will end whenever I want it to end. And because I’m not out there fighting it myself, I do not want it to end."
The MSNBC anchor concluded that such a declaration is particularly damaging given that "voters who are overwhelmingly opposed to Donald Trump’s war."