As the U.S. war against Iran enters its third week, the Trump administration is attempting to refocus its messaging as broader support for the war falters.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
President Trump and his top aides are amplifying a message of winning the war with Iran.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: As far as I’m concerned, we’ve essentially defeated Iran.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
This latest effort to reinforce an image of strength comes as gas prices soar, global markets are down and polls show Americans are skeptical of the war. Coming up, we’ll talk about what the next chapter of the war might look like with Washington Post columnist David Ignatius. First, the latest information.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez traveled with the president this weekend in Florida. So, Franco, President Trump is really kind of zeroing in on this message about winning the war over the weekend. So how does that fit with the shifting narrative that the White House has given for going to war in the first place?
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Yeah, I mean, the administration has really struggled at first to give a clear explanation of why the U.S. needed to go to war. You know, was it about helping protesters? Was it because Iran was going to strike first? I mean, all that kind of confusion put the administration on the back foot politically. But now the talk is about winning and dominating. You know, on the way home, Trump boasted of taking out Iran’s air force, the navy. And he says Iran has a little fight left, but not much.
MARTÍNEZ: So what’s there to gain, then, by just repeating the idea that the United States is winning this war?
ORDOÑEZ: Well, A, I mean, as you know, messaging is very important to this White House. And, you know, I was speaking with Jenny Stromer-Galley, who studies political messaging at Syracuse University. And she sees this repetition of winning as an attempt to refocus the conversation on one of unified power.
JENNY STROMER-GALLEY: When you watch Trump and his messaging, he is always aware of how the message is looking. He’s a showman still at heart. And as a showman, part of his show is this vision of strength and success.
MARTÍNEZ: So, Franco, this is something definitely not new for President Trump.
ORDOÑEZ: Not at all. I mean, Trump is very attuned to the politics of the moment. He can see the polls. He can see how – the split among his own supporters, who are concerned about this dragging on. Stromer-Galley calls it an exercise of power and trying to convince people of something their eyes may not actually see.
STROMER-GALLEY: This strong, repetitive we’re winning, we’re winning, we’re winning I think is, again, strategically an effort to try to get everybody on the same page with this story so that they can shape a reality that this is not going to be a quagmire, that this is not going to be like Iraq – because that’s the comparison, and that’s what they’re fighting against.
ORDOÑEZ: You know, the president is also blaming the media as part of the effort. For example, he posted this weekend that the media wants the U.S. to lose the war. And then a little bit later, the FCC chair threatened to pull broadcast license over a station’s coverage of the war.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, objectively, there have been some military successes for the U.S., with a cost, though. Thirteen U.S. service members have died. And it’s not really clear how long this is all going to last. Oil prices are up. What could the possible consequences then be for President Trump?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, I mean, it’s about public support and goes back to the challenges Trump has faced offering different rationales for the war. I mean, Trump never really made a public case ahead of time. So the messaging kind of took place after the strike started. He eventually settled on this idea that he had a feeling Iran was going to strike first but he never really provided evidence.
And now he says the end of the war will come soon. And he also says it’ll take as long as necessary. And really, all of that just seems arbitrary. The White House continues, though, to count on its message resonating with at least its most loyal supporters, you know, and as they have successfully done many times before.
MARTÍNEZ: That’s White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez. Thanks a lot.
ORDOÑEZ: Thank you, A.
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