"Numerous stories from the Fake News Media have been circulating stating that General Daniel Caine, sometimes referred to as Razin, is against us going to War with Iran. The story does not attribute this vast wealth of knowledge to anyone, and is 100 percent incorrect," Trump said in a Monday post on Trump Social.
"General Caine, like all of us, would like not to see War but, if a decision is made on going against Iran at a Military level, it is his opinion that it will be something easily won," Trump continued.
Axios first reported that Caine has been more cautious in talks about planning against Iran compared with the lead-up to an early January raid in Venezuela, where U.S. personnel captured that country's, leader Nicolás Maduro. The Joint Chiefs chair views a potential major operation against Iran as inviting a higher risk for U.S. casualties, the outlet reported.
Caine, the top U.S. military official, has voiced similar warnings during meetings at the Pentagon and the National Security Council, concerns also expressed by other Pentagon officials, The Wall Street Journal reported.
And the Washington Post reported that Caine cautioned that any major military operation in Iran could face hurdles due to a low stockpile of munitions, further depleted by the U.S.'s backing of Ukraine and the ongoing defense of Israel.
None of the reports noted that Caine was against the U.S. going to war against Iran.
Caine has presented Trump and other top national security officials in recent days a range of strike options the U.S. military could execute against Iran, a source familiar with the matter told The Hill on Monday.
Trump on Monday praised Caine as knowing Iran "well," and for being the architect of the U.S. bombing of Iran's three premier nuclear sites last June, an operation known as Midnight Hammer.
"He has not spoken of not doing Iran, or even the fake limited strikes that I have been reading about, he only knows one thing, how to WIN and, if he is told to do so, he will be leading the pack," Trump said Monday.
On Friday, the president said he was considering limited strikes against Iran if the negotiations over the country's nuclear program fail.
Washington is still negotiating with Tehran with hopes of reaching a deal that would not allow Iran to have a nuclear program, something Iranian officials have rejected.
Read the full report at thehill.com.
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