U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds is attempting to reassure supporters about the ongoing imbroglio with Iran, saying it’s “very different” than previous military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq and predicting a “succinct” endgame and resolution from President Donald Trump.
Donalds, a Naples Republican who is running for Governor, said Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio “are not in it for long military campaigns that are going to last for years and put more of our men and women in harm’s way.”
“I don’t believe that to be Donald Trump’s foreign policy or worldview. His foreign policy and worldview is, ‘If you mess with me, I’m going to come over, I’m going to blow up all your stuff, and then I’m going home,’” Donalds said at a veterans’ event Monday in Jacksonville.
“Actually, that’s the way you use the United States military. You don’t do 20-year engagements. You don’t do 10-year engagements. We don’t do six-year engagements. We go over with our men and women, the best military in the world. We blow up all your stuff. And then we go home.”
Donalds also said Trump was smart to be “ambiguous with his language when he talks to the press” about the Iran conflict, and that he would be ceding leverage if he were more forthcoming.
“Like I tell the press all the time, why in the hell would I negotiate through you? Why would I tell you what I’m going to do? That’s called being dumb,” Donalds said.
“You don’t go tell everybody else what you’re going to do at the negotiating table. That’s how you lose the negotiations.”
