IRAN EYES MIDTERMS: Tehran may want prolonged war for Trump defeat in November

A major escalation overseas as Tran. strikes US forces in Jordan just hours. after our military took out Iranian. rocket launchers in the street of. Hormuz. The latest exchange of fire. putting the Gulf States back in focus. with Iran Supreme Leader calling for. Muslim nations to unite. Joining us now. is Fox News contributor and former CIA. station chief Dan Hoffman. Dan, thanks. for coming on to talk about this. You. know, what do you think the goal is here. for Iran? I I mean they're clearly. losing and at this point I feel like.

they're just kind of delaying the. inevitable of a full-blown loss. So I. mean their nation is failing. Why keep. going at this point? >> Well, the first thing I would emphasize. is that this was an intelligence success. by the United States. We did we uh. collected intelligence that Iran was. seeking to launch rockets uh and place. mines in the street of Hormuz and we. took decisive action right away to. prevent that from happening and of. course Iran has responded by launching.

strikes on Jordan and the UAE. I think. the timing is worth noting. It's right. after the United States imposed. significant economic pressure on Iran. And I think what Iran wants to do is. demonstrate that they still have some. leverage to disrupt the global economy. and inflict harm on the United States. economy and uh and the world at large. And that I think is what Iran is trying. to demonstrate at this point. >> You know, I want to talk about the Gulf. countries. Uh President Trump, he said. Iran's attacks across the region have.

cost support from its neighbors. Listen. to this. As soon as the shooting started, they. started aiming at Saudi Arabia, at. Qatar, at UAE, at Bahrain, at Kuwait. They were aiming. Everybody was shocked. I was surprised. I thought it was a very. good thing because they lost all of the. support that they had. >> So, you know, the Wall Street Journal, they reported that business has. continued as normal in Dubai. So, how do. you think these Gulf countries should be. responding to all of this?

Well, I think we've made it pretty clear. that we want to uh very much focus on. Iran's uh economic uh ties with the. Middle East and the rest of the world. There are Iranian uh shadow uh companies. and and shell companies. They've been. exporting oil to China. They do a lot of. business in the Emirates and it's really. going to be important for the United. States and our partners and allies in. the region to work together to shut down. whatever uh commercial trade Iran is.

enjoying in the region. Iran knows that. and that's why they're launching these. strikes. They're hoping to induce our. partners in the region not to want to go. along with the United States and support. these uh very harsh economic uh pressure. against Iran. And I think that's what's. behind these strikes. And I think what. we'll be looking for with the Trump. administration will be looking for in. the coming days are US intelligence. community collecting on Iran's plans and. intentions and how Iran is responding to.

the United States military strikes uh in. response uh to Iran. >> Do you think we should expect more of. these back and forth strikes? I mean, it. had been about a month, a little over a. month since the last time we saw this. Is this something we should expect in. the coming days and weeks to see more. of? I I think the Trump administration was. prepared for the fact that as we. increase economic pressure on Iran, that. the Iranians would respond by seeking to. launch kinetic strikes against us and I. think we are prepared to deal with that. and I don't think it would surprise any.

of us if we saw continued efforts by. Iran to launch strikes in the future. >> Yeah. Yeah, you know, I thought it was a. pretty a wild thought that earlier on. the show, Alex Hogan was reporting that. Iran was focusing on curbing inflation, creating jobs, and reducing dependence. on the dollar. With all of this going. on, um that's what they're going to. focus on. Dan Hoffman, thank you so much. for your time. I appreciate it. >> All right, thanks. >> Of course. >> So, Iran attacking US forces in Jordan. with a source telling Fox News nearly. all incoming missiles have been.

intercepted so far. And the attack comes. after US forces struck tan missile. launchers in the straight of Hormuz. >> So chief foreign correspondent Trey. Yinst all over it. He's in Tel Aviv. Hey. Trey. >> Yeah. Hey guys. Good morning. Overnight. Iran launched at least eight ballistic. missiles at US forces in Jordan. A US. source familiar tells Fox News there. were no significant impacts and the. majority of the incoming fire was. intercepted. The attack came after US. forces struck Iran's Larak Island after.

identifying preparations for an IRGC. rocket launch that was meant to place. new sea mines in the straight of Hormuz. Sentcom released a statement saying US. forces took limited precise action. against IRGC mine lane forces posing an. imminent threat in the straight of. Hormuz. In essence, Iran created the. threat and the US military eliminated it. to protect civilian mariners, commercial. shipping and the free flow of commercial. of global commerce. Now, this is the. first known US strike against Iran since.

late July. Iranian President Massud. Peskin spoke today about the exchange of. fire. >> We do not seek war. That has been our. message to the world until now. However, in the face of aggression, we will not. stand by. We are capable of delivering. decisive response. Instability in this. region would affect everyone and create. serious problems. Instability is in no. country's interest. The event comes as reports indicate the. US may ramp up economic pressure this. week against Iran. Following new.

sanctions last week, Iranian officials. reacted over the weekend with Iran's. Supreme Leader Mustaba Hamayi urging. more domestic production and less. reliance on the US dollar. Overnight, President Trump told Fox News this about. the operation against Iran. >> Blockade has been unbelievable. The. financial. uh the financial hits that we're giving. them, we're hitting them very hard. never nobody's ever been hit like this. and they're a failing nation right now. and at the right point we'll either win.

or they'll do something but you know I. don't mind winning just winning that I. don't need a signature on a piece of. paper but we're doing very well their. navy's gone their air force is gone. their leaders are gone their uh all of. their anti-aircraft. >> the region now waits to see if the. United States will respond to that. Iranian missile attack against US forces. is overnight, guys. >> Hey, Trey. So, uh, the word is they. would thought they were laying mines. They were probably, and they just.

cleaned out the whole area, so they're. not going to let them put mines down. again. So, it makes perfect sense. Do. you get the sense that the straight is. going to continue to build? I think it's. averaging 27 ships there uh, a day, and. I think when it's when it's at its best, it's between about between 100 and 115. Do you get the sense it's going to. continue today? >> Yes, absolutely. What's happening right. now is we hear these statements from.

Iranian officials in Thran and they say. the straight of Hormuz is closed. But. the US Navy is overseeing vessels each. and every night with millions of barrels. of crude oil that are currently stuck in. the Persian Gulf out through this. southern route out of the straight of. Hormuz. And so it's an indication that. the US military has the ability to. undercut Iranian efforts to close the. straight and they are watching closely. if the Iranians try to remine the. straight of Hormuse and that's exactly. what took place overnight. The Iranians. have these far as five rockets and they. have a distance a range of about 65.

nautical miles and they can be used to. place sea mines and that's exactly what. the US military wants to avoid because. they want to keep this critical waterway. open and flowing so that more vessels. can start to pass through. This coupled. with the ongoing US naval blockade is. putting new pressure on the Iranian. regime. And it even forced Iranian. officials over the weekend to admit this. economic pressure. Not just the Supreme. Leader Mustaba Hamayi, but also Iran's. president Masud Peskian said in an. interview with state media. I don't know. what to say to people that say that.

sanctions have no effect on our country. >> Trey, um Iran attacking US forces that. are stationed in in Jordan. If you're an. American family and you have a child. that is stationed in Jordan, that's. pretty alarming. You said uh the. majority of the missiles have been. intercepted so far. The ones that were. not intercepted, do you know how many. there were and where they hit? >> So, we don't have exact numbers yet, but. the indication is that the Iranians. targeted US bases in Jordan. Remember.

earlier this year, US forces were killed. in a similar Iranian missile attack. These are very serious missiles that the. Iranians are using and they still have. some in their arsenal. We do know that. the US has shifted a lot of their air. defense to the TH that and Patriot. systems to protect these areas and the. US forces that are there. And in the. past, the last time that the Iranians. launched a similar attack, they were. able to shoot down the majority of the. incoming missiles. We'll have to wait. and see exactly how many were fired and. intercepted, but US Central Command has. indicated this was a successful defense.

of US forces in Jordan. >> Okay, good. So Trey, we heard the. statement from the Iranians essentially. as they are attacking uh the neighbors. in the Gulf, but they want them to be. partners again. And on the face of it, you look at that and as you say, that's. just ridiculous that you can't attack. people and expect them to be friends. But we've also heard of some of the Gulf. States potentially doing their own deals. with Iran. Is there any. I guess facts to that that this is.

happening behind the scenes or are they. going to be in lock step with the United. States? >> So there are indication that talks. continue between Oman and Iran about. control of the straight of Hormuz. But. President Trump has rejected these talks. because he says the US is in control of. the strait and they will decide. ultimately when and where vessels are. getting through. This back and forth. though is quite interesting because the. Iranians continue to say they're looking. for alliances with Gulf countries, but. they're launching missiles and drones at. these countries occasionally. And we. even saw this overnight. The Emiratis.

say that a Iranian drone targeted the. UAE. It was shot down, but again, it's. an indication that the IRGC is willing. to escalate in the Persian Gulf and near. to the straight of Hormuz. We have to. look at the reality on the ground. The. Iranians are still threatening this. critical waterway. This is far from. over. But remember in the backdrop here, there is this ongoing US economic. pressure that is starting to have a. serious effect on the regime officials. in Thran. And it's not just the public. statements that we heard from Iran's. Supreme Leader, the country's president.

over the weekend. When you look at the. number today, the Iranian realal hit 2.1. million realal to one US dollar. A. historic number and it's an indication. that the currency is weakening. They. don't have the ability to export crude. oil. And this was mentioned yesterday by. Iranian President Bzeskian. And they are. economically isolated. And if we do get. more sanctions this week, it's another. indication that the Trump administration. is pushing forward with this economic. operation to isolate the Iranian regime. and try to get them to change their. behavior. But again, there is a splinter.

within Iranian leadership about what to. do next. Iranian President Masud. Pzeskian said earlier today that the. country doesn't seek war and they need. to go back into talks with the United. States. But then you have IRGC officials. that are launching missiles toward US. forces in Jordan. >> Thanks so much, Tre. Fantastic analysis. Uh the New York Times today and that, you know, usually the first four stories. are pro Iran against the US. >> Uh the New York Times says the squeeze. uh the squeeze on gas prices has the. government fearing for unrest. They say.

there are gas lines at 3 in the morning. now in Iran. 3 in the morning. So now. the subsidies have stopped, the gas has. stopped, the jobs, the jobs numbers are. horrendous. They've lost something like. 3 million jobs since this conflict. began. And now you hear about how. useless and worthless their currency is. >> So how much longer can they take this? I. just hope there, as Ted Cruz said. yesterday, I hope there's an operation. to get some guns to these people so they. can take back their country. I want to.

go back to the the MSAD knows exactly. where their allies are. if they could. start doing that and letting those. defectors have a place to go and then. maybe arm those people to start taking. out besiege so they have a way to get. their country back. >> We tried once and it looks like that. didn't go too well with the courage. So. hopefully we can try that again. >> Well, we saw what happened in January. when they revolted. A lot of a lot of. the residents were killed just shot in. the back. >> Um and we know what Iran's capable of. and they will do that again. But how.

much more can the people take? >> Bingo. The United States and Iran. trading strikes overnight as tension. escalate between Washington and Tyrron. Chief foreign correspondent uh Trey Yin. just spoke with the president and joins. us with the latest. Trey, what do you. know? >> Yeah, Lawrence, good morning. I just. spoke with President Trump who told Fox. News the United States will respond to. the Iranian attack on US forces. overnight in Jordan. The president said, "We're going to hit them hard. There. will be a response." He indicated that. all of the missiles except one were.

intercepted by US air defense systems. One missile was identified as not going. to hit anything significant and they. allowed it to pass through the airspace. This comes as the president said the. Iranians want to meet so badly, but he. doesn't know if you can count on them to. make a deal, but added that the current. US sanctions against the Iranian regime. are kicking in strongly. But again, the. headline here, President Trump telling. Fox News that the United States will. respond to this attack on US forces in. Jordan overnight. Lawrence,

>> as expected, the president always. responds when they attack us. Uh, thanks, Trey. >> President tweeted um some AI generated. video of bombing of Park Island. Was. that meant to be a warning or what was. the messaging there? Why did the. president tweet that? >> Well, you know, like the president likes. to switch it up on social media a little. bit. uh he would be the first to say he. doesn't make announcements about. military actions on social media, but I. think that he's sending a message to the. Iranians. Look, we know that they. continue to shoot a commercial shipping. We continue to have a lot of uh tools at.

our disposal to prevent them from doing. so or at least cut down on them from. doing so. And that's what the president. is saying is look, you guys are shooting. at commercial shipping. You guys are. behaving like a terrorist country. you've got to stop and there going to be. some consequences. about. >> on Venezuela really quickly. Um with the. deal for the 65 billion in reserve in. Venezuelan oil, when will the US see the. first barrels of oil from that deal? >> I think importantly, we're actually. already seeing significant increase in. oil production out of Venezuela, which.

is one of the reasons why despite a lot. of people predicting that oil prices. would go to $200 a barrel, they're. obviously higher than they were a few. months ago. but they're they're sort of. much more stable in part because what we. see coming out of Venezuela. So look, I. think that we are going to see. significant increase in production. The. 65 billion barrel reserve is a big part. of that. But I I think it's it's a. mistake to say when will we see. increased production because we're. already seeing increased production. already. >> Are you concerned about global.

vulnerabilities because of continued. operations in Iran either because of. munitions draw downs or other resources. devoted to the region? Well, look, I. think that we're in a position in the. United States where as strong as we have. ever been, we're only going to get. stronger under the president's. leadership. Uh we certainly saw under. the Biden administration that the. military was underinvested in and. underresourced. We're fixing that every. day. So, obviously, it's a concern of. ours, but it's a concern of ours because. of underinvestment in the military for a. very long time. It's something the. president United States has said about.

fixing. >> On AI, President Trump today said that. Americans should get on board with. wanting more data centers. How does how. do you think that message goes over for. the ahead of the midterms where this is. becoming kind of a touch point in some. areas? >> Well, what the president said about data. centers is they're an important part of. the AI economy. When people build them, they have to build the power plants. along with the data centers. I think. probably 99% of the backlash to data. centers has come in areas where building. a data center means higher utility and.

higher electricity for the people on the. ground. So, I think what these companies. have to do is take advantage of some of. the federal deregulatory efforts that. we've undertaken. If you build the data. center, you should be putting power back. into the grid, not taking it out. And if. that is happening, I don't think the. data centers are that controversial. It's when the utility bills get so much. higher, that's when it's a real problem. All right, guys. We'll see you on the. other side. Take care. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> We are also awaiting America's next move. after Iran attacked US forces in Jordan. overnight. President Trump telling Fox,

"The US will hit back hard after the. first known exchange of strikes in a. month." Hello, I'm John Roberts. Welcome. to Monday, Sandra. It's a little bit of. groundhog day when it comes to Iran. >> It is good to be with you and start this. new week with you, John. I'm Sandra. Smith in New York. This is America. Report. So, Iran's attack comes just. hours after US forces hit Iranian. military positions in one of the. narrowest parts of the street of Hormuz. And the military pressure is only one. part of it. The US is also tightening. the economic squeeze on tan. >> Treasury Secretary Scott Besset now.

pressing G20 finance officials to cut. trade ties with Iran and says their. latest attack is a sign that pressure is. working. >> They are lashing out kinetically because. they are losing economically. The. economy doesn't have to collapse. It. just we just have to have uh the regime. come to their senses. >> Brent Sadler will react here in moments, but first let's get to our chief foreign. correspondent Trey Yinx who's reporting. live out of Tel Aviv. Trey, >> Sandra, good afternoon. President Trump. told Fox News there will be a response.

to that Iranian attack on US forces. overnight in Jordan. The president said, "We're going to hit them hard. There. will be a response." Now, this comes. after Iran launched at least eight. ballistic missiles at US forces in. Jordan. The president says all of the. missiles were shot down with the. exception of one that wasn't going to. hit anything significant. The attack. came after US forces struck Iran's Larak. Island after identifying preparations. for an IRGC rocket launch that was meant. to place new sea mines in the straight. of Hormuz. Sentcom released a statement.

saying US forces took limited precise. action against IRGC mine laying forces. posing an imminent threat in the. straight of Hormuz. In essence, Iran. created the threat and the US military. eliminated it to protect civilian. mariners, commercial shipping, and the. free flow of global commerce. This is. the first known US strike against Iran. since late July. The event comes as. reports indicate the US may ramp up. economic pressure this week against. Iran. >> We continue to have a lot of uh tools at. our disposal to prevent them from doing.

so or at least cut down on them from. doing so. And that's what the president. is saying is look, you guys are shooting. at commercial shipping. You guys are. behaving like a terrorist country. You've got to stop or there going to be. some consequences. Following new sanctions last week, Iranian officials reacted over the. weekend with Iran's Supreme Leader. Mushtab Hamayi urging more domestic. production and less reliance on the US. dollar. The pressure is starting to. build in Thran with civilians speaking. out about the rising cost of goods and. broader economic situation. >> Unfortunately, that overshadows things.

somewhat. Maybe if the economic. situation was a little better now, perhaps the war wouldn't have been. reached that ceasefire. They might have. kept going a bit longer, but I think the. economic situation could become more. challenging. >> The region now waits to see how the. United States will respond to that. Iranian attack on US forces overnight. Sandra. >> Trey Yinks with that out of Tel Aviv for. us. Trey, thank you. John. >> All right, Sandra. Brett Sadler is here. Retired Navy captain, former Pentagon. official. So, the president according to.

Trey Inst. said about Iran that there's going to be. retaliatory strikes coming. He said, quote, "We are going to hit them hard.". This after attacks on the Alazra air. base and the King Hussein air base in. Jordan. Uh, I mean, all of the missiles. except one were intercepted. The one. that wasn't intercepted fell in a place. where it wasn't going to hurt anybody. There were no injuries as far as we know. from this. But it's pretty clear that. the president is saying, "I'm done with. this game that Iran is playing. I'm not.

going to sit back and let them retaliate. and not hit back again.". >> No, absolutely. I think the tempo and. the response, the size of it, it is for. the president to decide. And I think. that is something that gives us the. benefit of time, not to go too high and. right or too excessive in the response, but keeping the main thing the main. thing that is allowing the economic. D-Day to play out, but at the same time. having an adequate and very timely. military response. Another point that I. think is important to note, the attack. on Larak Island where there was. apparently like rocket assisted mines. that were going to be placed, that.

proactive military response, not waiting. until after the Iranians attack is a key. thing and that should probably be. something to be looking for to be. continued and more aggressively along. that coastline in the straight of. Hormuz. >> Yeah, I mean just looking at the map. there, Lark Island is about 20 miles off. of the coast of Iran. It's near Keshum. Island and Hormuz Island. Uh that's. where they had some missiles with mines. somehow attached to them that they were. going to try to fire into the straight. of Hormuz. And what's really interesting. too, we can put up this other graphic of. transit uh routes through the Straight.

of Hormuz uh going in between Larak. Island and Keshum Island as uh. demonstrated here in this or illustrated. here in this graphic was the so-called. Iranian extortion route. You get them. close enough to to Iranian territory, you can charge them a million dollars to. go through. >> That's right. Um, Laric Island is. definitely a tactical importance in the. control of the Straight of Hormuz. And. with the amount of American military. assets in the region, it's clear there's. a lot of eyes along that coastline. So,

if the Iranians are bold enough to move. or to try to put a missile in place, it. gets hit before it even gets the shot. off. Uh so Jack Ke was on uh newsroom. earlier this morning and said he thought. that the. >> Iranians trying to remine the street of. Hormuz and using missiles to do it as. opposed to boats because they don't have. a lot of boats left really was a sign of. the desperation that they're in right. now. Listen to what he said. >> Absolutely. >> I think clearly the Iranians I think are. in a more desperate mood here than what. we've seen in the past by imposing this.

now. And obviously we dealt with that. Cooper has a what we call preeemption. authority. If he sees Iran getting ready. to do something, he doesn't have to ask. permission to act. >> You know, the president said last week. that the space force is watching every. square inch of the straight of Hormuz. And if the Iranians get ready to do. anything like they tried to over the. weekend, they were going to get punched. and punched hard. >> Absolutely. And as far as those missile. launches, again, continuing on after the. first two weeks of this conflict, the.

Iranians are not able to really launch. massive missile strikes. Certainly not. coordinated. So that's still the truth. But they're also every time they take a. shot at our bases in the region, it's. like a finger pointing right back to. where they're operating or where they're. moving from. And so if the president. does decide to go after those launchers, they probably have a pretty substantial. amount of intelligence to make it hurt. >> Um, so what do you think the president. does go after? Does he just go after the. launchers? because obviously Space Force. saw everything happening or does he go. after a different target to send a.

stronger message? >> I think he does both. He continues the. proactive military posture in the. Straits of Hamuz see a threat, attack. the threat as well as going after these. actual ballistic missile attacks because. that's been the other option the. Iranians have kind of fallen back on. They don't have much left to do and. their only leverage is in the straight. of Hormuz which we are rapidly removing. completely. No, I said over the weekend. on on X that it's like a juvenile. delinquent with a with a box of matches. You know, they just can't help. themselves. >> Absolutely. >> Brent, always great to see you. Thanks.

for joining us. Appreciate it. >> We went into Iran and we're beating the. hell out of them and uh doing a good. job. They don't know who the leader is. You have the radicals, but they've been. wiped out from the standpoint of the. military because the military is just a. fraction of what it was. They were. called the bully of the Middle East for. a reason. They're not the bully anymore. >> President Trump uh today with his take. on how he says the US is winning the.

Iran conflict. Let's bring in Fox News. senior strategic analyst, retired. General Jack Keane. General, thanks for. being here. you know, Laric Island, US. forces hitting uh these Iranian rocket. launchers over the weekend. First action. in a while uh that we've seen and the. president threatening more. But maybe. more telling is that we're getting. reports that senior leadership from Iran. is fleeing the country in the wake of. these economic sanctions that have. really really changed the dynamic.

>> Yeah. Yeah. Well, certainly the pressure. that Secretary Besson is putting on the. regime is really quite significant. It. it's likely a most comprehensive attempt. to isolate a country both economically. and financially from the world at large. and certainly it as we've seen in the. past it does take sanctions take some. time and enforcement is really critical. We've watched these sanctions in the. past and countries that say they're. going to comply do initially and then in. a few weeks it's a little bit less and.

then sometimes it falls off uh. completely. But it is quite an ambitious. plan and I think Secretary Bessen is. obviously very well qualified to be in. charge of this. Where the Iranians, I. think, are coming from here with this. attack is is they're dealing with the. reality that the Straits of Amuse, which. is a strategic asset in their mind, after all, when they took it charge of. it and disrupting it, intimidating, coercing ship builders on March the. second, just a few days after the war.

commenced, that absolutely had an impact on the. administration. oil and gas prices, remember, began to spike and we went to. a ceasefire obstensively because the. Iranians were willing to negotiate and. over the straits remove. Obviously, we. don't have a deal as a result of that. So, four months later, but their. position is weaker and the reality is. that Admiral Cooper and his team have. been moving ships steadily through the. straits on the southern corridor. They. are closer to Oman and the trend is up.

in terms of the number of ships getting. through and they just finished clearing. the central corridor of all its mines. Thus, the attack uh from Iran obviously. to continue to disrupt this as much as. they can even though their position is. getting weaker. I think the Iranians, Brett, will continue their aggression as. we get closer to the to the midterms and. maybe even increase it as it gets closer. because they clearly want President. Trump to lose these midterm elections.

and be in a weaker position and they're. trying to emphasize that the war is not. being managed properly. That's their. game plan uh here and they think in. their minds they can outlast us. You. know, the time is on their side. I mean, they're diabolical, tyrannical leaders. here, and we won't know for sure of the. impact of of what Besson is doing. And. obviously, the military uh responses. here until it truly happens right before.

our eyes. It it's unknowable. >> to predict if the regime is going to. collapse now or weeks or months from. now. But there has to be some fissures. that are going on in that regime right. now. And I'm hoping the CIA and the MSAD. are exploiting what you just described. as some of the leaders beginning to. weaken and maybe even get out of the. country with their families alive. >> You know, Secretary Besson said the. reason Iran striking back kinetically. and they're firing at UAE and Jordan and. US bases in the region is because they.

are feeling such a pinch economically. To your point, I want to turn topics to. this Washington Post article over the. weekend. uh military leaders warned. Secretary Hegsth against extending Iran. war operations. You know, I covered the. Pentagon for six years. Um this this. piece was very detailed. Uh very very. detailed. And the Pentagon, while they. pushed back on it, uh said that they. thought it was classified information. that was released, they said it was. inaccurate. Um but but it seemed like it.

came from from senior leadership. Uh you. get that and that story and the detail. in there and then you get Dan Driscoll. um resigning as Army Secretary ahead of. what what a lot of people thought was. going to happen wait until after the. midterms and maybe run Vice President. Vance's possible campaign. >> Yeah. Well, obviously it's an open. secret that the United States has issues. with its arsenal and stockpile of.

ammunition and certainly. what we've been providing to Ukraine and. what we have been conducting here in. this operations since February 28th. Obviously, there's been a ceasefire here. for some months, but intertimately we've. still been using weapons has had some. impact on all of that. I think drawing. back from it, I I'm not privy to the. information that they have, uh, but I. think in my own judgment about it, what. they're really concerned about is the.

extensive war that possibly could take. place. Remember, the original plan to. execute this was somewhere around 50. something days. We stopped at the 38th. day. And there is no doubt in my mind. that Cooper has the ammunition and the. and the stockpile available to him to. execute that mission. >> Uh offensively and defensively. I I. suspect don't know for sure because I'm. not in the discussions nor should I be.

that they're talking about if this thing. gets extended out. >> then it's going to have impact in their. theaters. And the service chiefs. obviously they see up close all the. ammunition they have uh in their. arsenals. But look at we have got to fix. this stockpile and this arsenal that we. have. >> and we have many stories. >> participated in this. >> Yeah. What what happens is when you have. the defense budgets that are not what. they should be and you have to make. decisions about what to cut. Where do.

you go? Well, you don't want to cut. anything that's affecting the current. force. You cut the future force. I did. it myself and that we've been paying. that price for a long time and has to do. with depressed defense budgets drove. this more than anything else. >> Yeah. And General, we always appreciate. the time. My point is there's a lot of. public coming out and whether it's being. leaked for a purpose. U Secretary H is. at the center of it. We're going to see. where all this goes politically. Uh. General Keane, as always, thank you.

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