STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth is signaling further escalation in the Iran war.
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PETE HEGSETH: Today will be yet again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran.
INSKEEP: Hegseth spoke after President Trump gave contradictory statements suggesting the war's end was near - or not. here he is on Monday.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We're achieving major strides toward completing our military objective. And some people could say they're pretty well complete. We've wiped every single force in Iran out.
INSKEEP: That was one of several contradictory statements by the president throughout the day suggesting the war's end was near - or not. In a few moments, we'll hear how Republican voters are receiving the president's various statements. NPR national political correspondent Mara Liasson has been listening to it all. Mara, good morning.
MARA LIASSON, BYLINE: Good morning.
INSKEEP: What do you make of the president's many words?
LIASSON: I think that the dominant message was declaring victory. And after you declare victory, you tend to look for an off-ramp.
INSKEEP: Yeah.
LIASSON: He said, quote, "this was just an excursion. We're close to finishing very soon." He said we've already won. But then in the next breath he said, but we haven't won enough, and we're determined to achieve total victory. Here's a little sample of that.
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TRUMP: We could call it a tremendous success right now as we leave here. I could call it, or we could go further. And we're going to go further.
LIASSON: But he didn't say what going further means. A President Trump model, at least in past military excursions, have been one and done. Venezuela - very quick, got out. Same with the Iran bombing in June. It sounds like that's what he wants to do now.
INSKEEP: Mara, I just want to note that the president's remarks have been moving markets. Before this press conference in the afternoon, while the financial markets were still open, Trump told CBS the war was, quote, "very complete." Stocks immediately soared. Somebody made billions of dollars. And then he comes to the press conference. He declares victory but also hedges. I mean, I guess we could blame us, the media, in a sense, because Trump always says many, many words, and people grab a few and try to interpret them. But are you able to get a through line from all of these different statements?
LIASSON: Well, yes, there were some things that were different about yesterday. He wasn't talking about unconditional surrender or regime change. He was asked, what does victory mean for you? Here's what he said.
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TRUMP: Where they're not going to be starting, the following day, to develop a nuclear weapon.
LIASSON: And that shouldn't be hard to claim. He also talked about, instead of regime change, having an internal candidate that he would approve to be Iran's new leader. And he compared it to Venezuela. He said the Venezuela model has worked really well. In other words, leave the regime in place but the leader changes. Now, Venezuela is a small, weak country in the United States' backyard. Iran is very different, a big country with regional ambitions. He was also pressed on why he had promised the Iranian people he would come to their aid. And he was asked, aren't you betraying them if you don't push all the way for regime change? But he didn't answer that question.
INSKEEP: I guess this is a good point to remember that a war has two parties, has two people with a vote, as military people will say. How does this look to Iran?
LIASSON: Well, I think their objective is to survive and to make the cost of continuing the war as high as possible for the U.S. and Israel. That means keeping the gas prices high, keeping the Strait of Hormuz strangled if not closed. And the president did talk about that yesterday. He said he wants to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. And he might have military escorts for oil tankers through the Gulf. But right now, the price of oil in the United States, the price of gas at the pump is going up. And if it keeps going up, that could make continuing the war politically difficult for the president.
INSKEEP: Mara, the president also talked about an Iranian girls school that was hit very early in the war. What is he saying about that?
LIASSON: He seemed to suggest that Iran did this himself. That's something no one else in his administration, including his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has claimed. He said it's easy to get a Tomahawk missile, although we know Iran does not have Tomahawk missiles. But he seemed to suggest that Iran got a Tomahawk and used it against its own civilians. But he also said that the U.S. was investigating and that he would support the conclusion of that investigation.
INSKEEP: OK, so statements that have yet to be supported by evidence. Mara, thanks so much.
LIASSON: You're welcome.
INSKEEP: That's NPR's Mara Liasson. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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