Did Vladimir Putin Order Donald Trump To Call Off Attack On Iran? That’s The Theory Going Around On Twitter
In a stunning turn of events, exposed in a blockbuster New York Times report on Thursday night, Donald Trump is said to have ordered a military strike on Iran in retaliation for the shooting down of a $150 million American Global Hawk reconnaissance drone a day earlier — only to suddenly change his mind and call off the retaliatory attack at the last moment.
There was no explanation evident for why Trump had a sudden change of heart, as The Inquisitr noted. According to the NYT, it remained unclear as to whether Trump simply changed his mind about the strike, which was supposed to take place just before dawn on Friday morning in Iran — that is, sometime around 9:15 p.m. ET on Thursday night — or whether some unknown factor in “logistics or strategy” accounted for the cancellation of the strikes. The NYT also reported that the strikes may yet take place, and that the decision not to attack could be reversed once again.
But Twitter users had a theory as to why Trump got cold feet about striking at Iran, a country that possesses what the Global Firepower index ranks as 14th most powerful military in the world, out of 137 countries rated.
According to some Twitter users, Trump’s “boss,” Russian President Vladimir Putin, ordered him to call off the attack on Iran.
Putin, in a public statement on Thursday, warned that a military conflict between the United States and Iran would explode into a “catastrophe,” according to a report by PBS. But whether Putin’s warning played a role in Trump’s thinking about the attack is unknown at the present time.
Except on Twitter, where users believe they have a pretty good idea what happened. Some even expressed a kind of backhanded gratitude to Putin for supposedly persuading Trump to stand down, one of them being former Star Trek actor George Takei.
It’s odd to read that Putin really doesn’t want the U.S. to get in a war with Iran, and to think, “We’ll, at least Trump might listen to that.”
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) June 21, 2019
New York Times op-ed writer Wajahat Ali also sent out perhaps grudging thanks to Putin.
Thank you, Putin. Sorry (not sorry), Bolton. https://t.co/4w7C3FP1Mw
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) June 21, 2019
Trump Ordered US To Strike Iran, Planes, Ships In Route, Putin Calls It “Catastrophic,” Trump Calls It Off https://t.co/AJvtfixFQt pic.twitter.com/DiprHuF4yX
— Tommy Lightfoot Garrett (@LightfootInHwd) June 21, 2019
What’s so unclear? Putin told him not to. NO DOUBT. https://t.co/aVAEWJnIp2
— One Met said… (@OneMetSaid) June 21, 2019
But though many Twitter users were certain that the orders to hold off on the Iran strike came from Putin, according to the NYT, while National Security Adviser John Bolton, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and CIA Director Gina Haspel all pushed Trump to attack Iran, “top Pentagon officials” cautioned Trump against a strike that could lead to rapid escalation of the conflict, and endanger U.S. troops.
A CNN report on Thursday portrayed the “strike or don’t strike” debate as taking place mainly between Trump, who was reluctant, and Bolton, who has long relished the prospect of using the military to attack Iran. Pompeo takes a position somewhere in the middle, according to CNN.
