Trump Rejects Nuclear Option in Heated Exchange
April 24—President Donald Trump grew visibly angry yesterday during a discussion on the Iran war with reporters in the White House when one asked him if he would use nuclear weapons against Iran.
"No, I wouldn't. We don't need it. Why do I need it? Why would a stupid question like that be asked?" Trump fumed.
"Why would I use a nuclear weapon, when we've totally, in a very conventional way, decimated them without it. No, I wouldn't use it. A nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody."
Reports of Israeli Nuclear Discussions
Sources report that the government of the Butcher of Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu, has in private discussions with various "players" in the region said the use of nukes was possible should Iran deploy "suicide forces" against a possible American expeditionary force that would, as Bibi has urged, invade Iran to overthrow the mullahs.
Sources who were made aware of these discussions said that the Israelis talked about tactical nuclear weapons and did not say whether they would come from the Americans or their own stockpiles; the whole world knows that Israel has nuclear weapons and has had them for more than a half century, although they have never formally admitted to it.
Contrasting Views Within U.S. Leadership
Meanwhile, sources close to Trump's Christian Zionist Secretary of War Pete Hegseth have contradicted Trump and said that the use of nuclear weapons was not a preferred option, but would be considered, depending on battlefield circumstances. "Nothing is ruled out in war," one Pentagon official said.
Top military commanders and others in the chain of command appear to be more in line with the President. "This war is a conventional war, period," a source told a reporter "off record." "There is no way it goes nuclear."
Urgency for Diplomatic Resolution
That such a discussion is even taking place, with differing views on nuclear use, is all the more reason that war in Iran needs to be ended by diplomatic means, and quickly.
In that same press briefing yesterday, Trump was asked how long he would wait for a viable peace deal with Iran. "Don't rush me," Trump told the reporters.
"Their navy is gone. Their air force is gone, their anti-aircraft is gone ...maybe they loaded up a little bit during the two-week hiatus, but we'll knock that out about one day, if they did," said Trump, adding Iran's leadership is in "turmoil."
"I want to make the best deal. I could make a deal right now ... but I don't want to do that. I want to have it everlasting,"
Trump also pushed back against questions that the conflict is exceeding the four-to-six week timeline that he and aides previously set for the war. "I took the country out militarily in the first four weeks. I took it out militarily," he said. "Now all we're doing is sitting back and seeing what deal (we make). And if they don't want to make a deal, then I'll finish it up militarily."