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Conservative political pundit Bill O’Reilly said President Trump wants to see a full surrender from Iran in its ongoing military conflict with Israel over Tehran’s nuclear pursuits, adding that he believes that’s how the latest skirmish will end.
“(Trump) doesn’t want to use American air power at this point – because that would cause some problems with China and (Russia),” O’Reilly said Monday evening on NewsNation’s “On Balance” with host Leland Vittert. “He would rather have the Iranians surrender, which he believes they will.”
“What President Trump’s strategy is, is to play this out a little longer because Israel is getting stronger while Iran is getting weaker,” he added.
O’Reilly, author of the upcoming book “Confronting Evil” about vicious historical figures, said he had been texting with Trump on Monday as Israel and Iran traded air strikes for almost five straight days.
“(Trump) believes that the mullahs are through; they will have to sign a deal,” O’Reilly continued. “The deal will be that the weapons inspectors go into all of the places that are working on the nuke, they identify what they have, and then the Iranians themselves, under supervision of the United Nations, would destroy a lot of their arsenal.”
“The mullahs don’t want to do that, obviously, but President Trump believes that will happen,” the former Fox News host added.
Trump departed the Group of Seven (G7) summit of world leaders in Canada late Monday — a day earlier than expected to return to Washington to monitor the ongoing conflict.
O’Reilly’s personal conversation with the president echos what Trump told reporters early Tuesday when he described what he was seeking as a “complete give-up” by Iran.
“I’m not looking for a ceasefire; we’re looking at better than a ceasefire,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One his return flight. “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon — it’s very simple.”
The Middle Eastern nations have exchanged attacks since Thursday, when the Israeli military carried out a surprise strike on Iranian nuclear facilities and killed multiple top military leaders and scientists.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump warned residents of Tehran to evacuate Monday, after the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had taken out Iran’s air defense systems, giving them clear airspace to continue strikes.
Netanyahu has said he wouldn’t rule out targeting Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but Trump reportedly tried to dissuade Israel’s leader from moving forward with an assassination plot.
The president has not ruled out the possibility of the U.S. military getting involved.
