“President Trump is being patient but his patience will wear thin, particularly if the Iranians continue in this provocation.”

Washington D.C. – House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul (R-TX) appeared on Fox News’ “Your World” with Neil Cavuto and Fox Business’ “Making Money” with Charles Payne to discuss Iran. Key highlights below:

 

Fox News’ “Your World” with Neil Cavuto

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“It is important to note that the United Nations Security Council is going to meet on this issue on Monday. I think he wants to get full support from our allies before he takes action in the region. This is not a president who is shy to use force, but I think he’s being a little more thoughtful and measured and deliberate in his approach. Because once you start this escalation, as the head of the IRGC said, he’s calling on the proxies to go to war, they would respond in kind and we would escalate the entire tension between the two countries. So I think a little bit of a pause is probably not a bad idea here. I do think they should suffer for what they’ve done in the Gulf area and their provocation. But I think the president was exercising caution here.

“I have got to tell you, Neil, it was one of the most sobering meetings I’ve been in with the president. I think the president is using caution. He’s being patient but his patience will wear thin particularly if the Iranians continue in this provocation.”

 

Fox Business’ “Making Money” with Charles Payne

 

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“Let me first commend the President of the United States for convening both House and Senate national security leaders like myself and getting our advice before he made this decision. We never saw that happen in the previous administration. And I thought it was very extraordinary that he brought us in. We talked about options on the table. We talked about the threat from Iran. We talked about the drone that was hit in international airspace and what should be the appropriate response. We thought a measured response was appropriate. I do commend the president for actually taking a step back here. I think taking a strike at this point in time could potentially rally the Iranian people around the Ayatollah. If we’re killing Iranians on Iranian soil, there will be consequences to that. And I think he understood that could be a step towards escalation rather than de-escalation. Now there’s going to be a United Nations Security Council meeting on Monday to try to get our allies behind us and rally against Iran. Iran has been very provocative, and I do think needs a measured response.

“Iran needs to understand that one more of these provocations will be met with the full force of the United States. I think the president is trying to exercise diplomacy here, as you know, to the very end and exhaust diplomacy before we get into an escalation. And remember, the head of the IRGC, General Soleimani, basically called for a proxy war against the United States and its allies. So they are the ones provoking the situation, not the United States.”