DID TRUMP GIVE IRAN PERMISSION TO BOMB A U.S. MILITARY BASE?

Today I have a real, not simply rhetorical, question for my elected officials in DC. Is it true that at a press conference in the Netherlands last Wednesday, Trump said he had given Iran permission to bomb a US air base in Qatar in retaliation for the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear weapons program sites? I quote: “They said, ‘We’re going to shoot them. Is one o’clock OK?’ I said it’s fine,” Trump said. “And everybody was emptied off the base so they couldn’t get hurt, except for the gunners.” This was originally reported in the right-wing Washington Times. And political scientist Seth Masket shared the story on Bluesky. Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo investigated further and found a transcript of the press conference (https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-press-conference-nato-summit-the-hague-netherlands-june-25-2025/). He found that yes, amid a characteristically meandering monologue, Trump actually said that he let a foreign adversary bomb an American military installation. Is this true? If it is, were you aware of his remarks? If true, wouldn’t that represent the most shocking dereliction of duty one could imagine for a commander-in-chief? If true, is he saying he let Iran get retaliation out of its system with what he called “a very weak response” to bring an end to hostilities? If true, is this yet another acceptable quid pro quo for the GOP? To allow, with permission, a foreign adversary to attack a US military base to somehow balance the aggression scale? If it is not true, even to say such a thing at a press conference, while the world is watching is monumental in its damage to America. If we have come to the point where such language by a president is just another shrug and move on moment, this country is most assuredly in trouble. We the people demand answers to this latest reporting. If Trump said it, and it’s actually true, what will the GOP reaction be? If Trump said it, and it was just bluster, what should the GOP reaction be? If you knew Trump said this, true or not and did nothing, said nothing, do you deserve to keep your job? Lastly, if you know nothing about any of this, shouldn’t you/will you investigate further? Because it’s out there. And if the media does its job, this won’t be the last you, or we, hear about this story.