On March 31, barely a month after the United States and Israel launched a military campaign against Iran that immediately shuttered the Strait of Hormuz and sent global oil prices skyrocketing, President Donald Trump was asked about his timeline for the war and when it might end.
“We’re finishing the job,” Trump said in remarks from the Oval Office. “I think within maybe two weeks, maybe a couple of days longer to do the job, but we want to knock out every single thing they have.”
Now, seven months later, as a long-term end to the war remains elusive, a new project is seeking to remind voters of Trump’s shifting timelines.
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Led by progressive veterans organization VoteVets and political advocacy group Home of the Brave, the effort documents Trump’s many statements on the war, seeking to remind Americans heading to the polls of the president’s mixed messages.
In a video optimized for social media, various clips of Trump promising a quick end to the war are superimposed over a calendar scrolling by. The on-screen text concludes: “No more deadlines. No more excuses. End the war.”
The groups also launched a new website, AboutTwoWeeks.com, hosting an interactive calendar showcasing more than 60 video clips of Trump promising to end the war soon, while also reminding Americans of the far-reaching impacts of the conflict: at least 19 U.S. servicemembers killed, more than 800 injured and more than $100 billion in additional gas and diesel costs to Americans since March.
“The president’s repeated promises to end the war in ‘about two weeks’ are falsehoods intended to hide the fact that he has no plan and no cards left to play,” Sarah Matthews, Home of the Brave spokesperson and former White House deputy press secretary during Trump’s first term, told Scripps News in a statement. “We won’t stop calling out this insult to America’s heroes, because they signed up to give their best to this country, and Trump is giving them his worst in return.”
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Tuesday’s release is the second such digital messaging campaign from the groups aimed specifically at veterans and Americans broadly interested in national security matters. As Scripps News previously reported, VoteVets and Home of the Brave in early September launched a campaign taking aim at Trump’s proposed “Triumphal Arch,” which would be built at the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery over the objections of many veterans and military families.
Public opinion research, meanwhile, has continued to show Americans souring on the war; in a recent NBC News poll, more than six-in-ten voters say the conflict has not been worth it, and 57% of respondents say they’d be less likely to vote for a candidate who backs the war.
The White House did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the new campaign or the president’s timeline to end the war.
