Donald Trump is trying to recapture the narrative over his war in Iran.
Instead, his main accomplishment so far this week has been to define the image of his wartime leadership for Americans in a way Republicans used to find distasteful as he continued to spout unproven theories and suggestions for the war's cause.
As he spoke with reporters on Monday, Trump showed that he was more than happy to take credit for America's military successes against a foe that supposedly presented a great threat to the U.S. military, despite the uneven casualty numbers.
"We're achieving major strides toward completing our military objective. And some people could say they're pretty well complete," the president told reporters. "Together with our Israeli partners, we're crushing the enemy in an overwhelming display of technical skill and military force."
Yet, at the same time, Trump was wholly unwilling to link himself to any negative consequences of the conflict, including economic hardship and any unintended bloody civilian consequences of U.S. bombing campaigns.
His White House press secretary insisted Tuesday that gas prices will soon drop to new lows for millions of Americans, even as average prices jumped by half a dollar in the first week of the war.
And the president also battled reporters over a Tomahawk missile strike that hit an Iranian girls' school in Minab on Feb. 28, the first day of the war. The death toll from that strike currently sits at 175, most of them children.
In short, the president is stuck waging a second war over the image presented to the American people of the conflict with Iran. One he appears to be losing.
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