Trump Advisor Warns of ‘Weakness’ Perception as Iran Strategy Stalls

Amid escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf, a prominent foreign policy voice is urging President Donald Trump to abandon diplomatic accommodation and resume “kinetic activity” against Iran, warning that recent mixed signals have allowed Tehran to perceive American weakness.

Marc Thiessen, argued that while President Trump showed historic courage by launching military action where four previous presidents did not, the administration’s follow-through has been deeply flawed. Thiessen praised Trump as “the only one who did anything about it” on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, stating, “I’ve never seen a president with more courage than Donald Trump in starting this operation.”

However, Thiessen cautioned that “how you end the war is as important as how you begin one,” and characterized last week as “not a very good week for us.”

According to Thiessen, the administration announced “Project Freedom” and the president directly warned Iran that if it fired on a U.S. ship, “we’re going to blow you off the face of the Earth.” When Iranian forces subsequently fired at a U.S. vessel and also at the UAE, Thiessen said the U.S. did nothing. He further noted that Secretary Rubio then announced the end of “Operation Epic Fury” — a statement Thiessen called “not necessarily true” — and that the next day, the administration suspended Project Freedom.

“If you are an Iranian looking at this, what do you see? You see what you perceive as weakness,” Thiessen said. “You see that the president isn’t willing to pull the trigger and start the combat again.”

Thiessen argued that Iran believes its ability to threaten oil facilities in the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia is deterring the U.S. from opening the Strait of Hormuz. “Donald Trump holds all of the cards, but the Iranians think they hold the cards,” he said.

To secure any deal, Thiessen insisted that the U.S. must convince Tehran otherwise, “and that’s going to require some kinetic activity.”

Asked about the ongoing framework negotiations — what the host described as “negotiating in order to negotiate” on a one-page general agreement — Thiessen agreed that such an approach has “advantage Iran written all over it.” He defined the extent of generosity the president should show: “He’s letting them live. The negotiators are alive right now because they were taken off the target list to negotiate a peace deal. If they aren’t willing to negotiate a peace deal, then they don’t have to live anymore.”

Thiessen recommended that the president restart Project Freedom next week, open the Strait of Hormuz with Saudi and allied support, and warn Iran that any targeting of allied oil facilities or U.S. ships will result in destruction of Iran’s own oil facilities at Kharg Island, through which 96% of Iranian oil flows.

He further proposed giving Israel the green light to resume kinetic operations against Iranian leadership, energy targets, and missile launchers, while simultaneously applying the “Reagan Doctrine” — arming and training freedom movements to overthrow the Iranian regime, similar to Trump’s approach in Venezuela.

“Tell the Iranians, ‘Uncle,’ or we’ll overthrow your regime,” Thiessen said.

The host agreed that “a little softness has somehow crept into the American position” and expressed confusion over what he called “generosity” in the administration’s diplomacy, a term he attributed to Trump envoy Robert O’Brien. However, both Thiessen and the host reaffirmed their support for the president and his mission, expressing confidence that Trump ultimately knows what he is doing.