Many of President s critics who did not approve of his ordering of Operation Epic Fury have focused on his failure to “rally the public” to the battle with Iran which the United States and Israel have been fighting â extremely successfully â for more than a month. Last night he gave the prime time address some of his critics have been demanding.Â
This column had to be filed hours before the president spoke, however, so I can only predict that, with some confidence, that reactions to the address will be “mixed.”Â
About 35-40% of the country will applaud the remarks. Roughly the same number will condemn them. And the crucial middle 20-40% will either be “undecided,” or will admit to not having seen it.
This result will come about because opinions about President Trump and anything he does do not move much, if at all. Ever.
The president has built a base. It endures. When the president was opposite then Vice President on an actual ballot, he smoked her, winning decisively and in all seven of the “swing states.” That was a real test.Â
The next time public opinion will truly be tested is in the fall elections. So much will happen between then and now that the safest prediction remains: The GOP loses the majority in the House, but retains the majority in the Senate, but its all dart throwing so far out. If the president has had quiet notification from one or two members of the Supreme Court in his pocket, he can be assured of a few news cycles favorable to him before voting begins, as the left will do its very predictable and ridiculous overreaction to any nominee and alienate the center.Â
But about the address last nightâ¦
President Trump will rightly have extolled the job done by the American military and our Israeli partners. The combined forces have to threaten its neighbors and the world. A military junta is now running the country, if the smartest analysts are to be believed, and even if Khamenei 2.0 is alive but injured, it does not matter. It is very obvious hes not “running” anything. Its not even clear that the junta is running anything.
A smashed military cant do much but bluster and fire off the missiles they can drag out of the shattered caverns and fire them off “in ones and twos” to quote the combatant commander of Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper. Israeli news is full of leaks about how the IDF is almost out of targets. It would be remarkable if America wasnt too. That doesnt mean the junta lacks the ability to kill its own people. It just means that the Islamic Republic of Iran no longer menaces the region and the world.Â
The region and the world are today than five weeks ago that it is very hard to describe just how great the change is. Work still remains to be done by a variety of our forces, but hats off to the Pentagons planners and the front line warriors and everyone in between, because it has been a dominating and stunning display of Americas military might. Our , has also demonstrated â again â that when mortal combat looms, you want Israel on your side.
No matter what President Trump said last night, however, those invested in hating him will join with Democrats invested in winning the elections this fall to find fault with the speech. Thats fine. Thats America in 2026. We never call time out from our never-ending political battles.Â
Which is why there were so many skeptics to begin with of the necessity of the big “Oval Office” address of yesteryear, including me.
Think of Richard Nixons “great silent majority” speech of November 3, 1969, which explained his policy of Vietnamization of that war. Nixon bought himself time and support with that address. About 70 million people watched that speech, and more than 3 out of 4 of them approved of it. That was a speech that moved the needle of public opinion for a time.
I didnt expect anything like that impact from President Trumps speech. Americans are far more fixed in their
