Jake Tapper called for President Donald Trump to operate under the same skepticism he had on the campaign trail over foreign intervention by the U.S. military, saying his administration lacks sincerity amid escalating tensions between Israel and Iran.
Earlier today, when asked about whether or not the president would strike Iran, he leisurely responded: “I may do it. I may not do it. Nobody knows what I’m going to do.”
Trump has openly opposed U.S. military intervention in the past, specifically America’s role in the Iraq War, but he also campaigned on the fact that Iran must never receive a nuclear weapon.
“There has been an unfortunate lack of seriousness about so much of this unworthy of the decision at hand,” the CNN host said of the Trump administration’s chaotic handling of conflict in the Middle East.
“Whether it’s President Trump’s Truth Social post glibly telling the 10 million people of Tehran to flee their city or Vice President JD Vance getting into twitter spats about who leaked what, this is a time for gravity and purpose,” Tapper added.
Watch Tapper’s take here:
Tapper: Trump’s big decision “tearing at the MAGA base”
Watch the video here: https://t.co/zIqHtRQs10 pic.twitter.com/yJdn4pOzgZ— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) June 18, 2025
“The Lead” anchor also noted that the president is not on the same page as his Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, openly dismissing her department’s assessment. Gabbard said in March that the intelligence community came to the conclusion that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon. Trump still vehemently opposed this statement, telling reporters Wednesday that “I don’t care what she said I think they were very close to having one.”
Tapper concluded, almost pleading to Trump, to take care with how he approaches upcoming foreign policy actions, more similarly to how he did as a candidate in his early days as a politician.
“We here at ‘The Lead’ we do not pretend to have the answers as to what President Trump should do. We were not elected to do so,” Tapper said. “We just hope that the same skepticism that President Trump brought to these questions of war and peace as a candidate, the same willingness to challenge conventional thinking in D.C. We hope that is brought to bear now.”
You can watch “The Lead” segment in the video above.
The post Jake Tapper Says Trump’s Truth Social Posts About Iran Are ‘Unworthy of the Decision at Hand’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.