He Urged Trump to Show "Real Progress" Through Diplomacy or on the Battlefield

Former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney warned that President Donald Trump is losing credibility on Iran as the administration pushes for a diplomatic solution nearly six months into a military campaign initially expected to end in weeks. Mulvaney, who served from January 2019 to March 2020, said on Australia's News24 that Trump's frequent shifts between threats and diplomatic claims have confused international partners. "We don't have any clue" whether a deal is near, he said, adding that Trump has "gone back and forth now so many times" that major players may doubt him.

He urged Trump to show "real progress" through diplomacy or on the battlefield. Since April, Trump has called off planned airstrikes at least five times, most recently halting what he called the "biggest attack since World War II" after claiming Iranian officials requested a pause, which Tehran denied. On Monday, Trump said negotiations could "go quickly one way or the other" and suggested the Strait of Hormuz could reopen "literally by tomorrow, while nuclear talks would take longer.

He also posted on Truth Social that "Iranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous! and insisted IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON! The administration's approach has drawn divergent views within the Republican Party.