Trump calls a New York Times Iran war question ‘such a stupid question’

Donald Trump would like you to know he never tells anyone when he’s going to hit Iran. He posted half the timeline himself. It’s also the second Saturday running that a newspaper’s Iran question has been too stupid for him; on Oct. 24 it was the Wall Street Journal’s.

At his Mar-a-Lago Halloween party gaggle on Saturday, a New York Times reporter asked whether he expected to go back to war against Iran “as soon as this week,” noting he’d said not until after the midterms. Trump: “Why would you ask such a stupid question?” Then he worked through both branches out loud, “Let’s say I did” and “Let’s say I didn’t,” before landing on “I can’t tell you.” It was, he added, not a question for the New York Times.

He already told everybody half of it. On Oct. 8 he posted on Truth Social that the U.S. “will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections” on Nov. 3. This week runs through Tuesday’s election and out the other side, which is the part of the calendar he left open.

About three minutes earlier, asked about the Qatari-mediated talks, he said “we’re not in that much of a hurry,” listed what’s been knocked out, and said there were still “one or two sites” to take care of. “But we can do that in 10 minutes.” Ten minutes is also how long, he said that night, he had to get ready for the party.