As President Trump continues to be attacked by warmongering Republicans and Democrats who are upset he didn’t bomb Iran last Thursday, one of the most consistently conservative members of Congress is praising the president as a “statesman” who resisted the Swamp.
“I’m really proud of President Trump for showing restraint,” Paul said on Fox News Monday. “It really takes a statesman to show restraint amidst a chorus of voices for war.”
Paul has been a leading advocate for the president’s “America First” foreign policy vision, which includes not only an end to nation-building and being the world’s policeman, but avoiding a repeat of the disastrous Iraq Warm which Trump opposed.
Coupled with his praise of the president’s recent foreign policy decisions, Paul did express caution regarding sanctions on Iran.
Fox News reports:
“Whether the sanctions will work is another story,” the senator said. “From the Iranian perspective, they see the sanctions as an act of war.”
He added the Iran nuclear deal forged with the help of the Obama administration took away one key incentive for Iran to return to the negotiating table.
Paul said the delivery of hundreds of billions of dollars to Tehran was a “carrot” that left the Trump administration with only “sticks” after the U.S. withdrew from the deal.
“I didn’t agree that we gave up the money early,” he said.
“We gave them $150 billion up front. I think that was a mistake.
Paul Advises Trump What Needs To Be Done
“The problem is that’s already done,” Paul continued. “That was a carrot, but we gave up the carrot too easily. Now that it’s gone, we have no other carrots, all we have is a stick. We’re adding the stick – which is more sanctions… I would have built upon the nuclear deal to try to get a ballistic missile deal.”
Whether the sanctions actually work in bringing Iran to the table remains to be seen, but in the meantime all Americans, if they could put their partisan blinders away, should be glad that their president is doing what he can to resist the foreign policy mistakes of the past.