Cassidy said after the meeting that he had told Trump: ‘This was supposed to take four weeks; it has taken four months. Our original goals were not achieved.’ The senator demanded clarity on the course of the war. The other three senators held back their criticism, but the exchange between Cassidy and the president reportedly became loud. Trump repeatedly told Cassidy to sit down and called him crazy, the Associated Press reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Trump himself described the meeting as ‘a really great meeting’ afterward but acknowledged disagreements: ‘We like everyone in the room. A few people I don’t like, but that’s okay.’ The president had backed Cassidy’s primary challenger in the Republican primaries in May, meaning the senator is likely to leave Congress. The resolution that was passed prohibits further combat operations against Iran without a parliamentary mandate, thus limiting Trump’s war powers.
In parallel, the US administration has asked Congress for an additional $87.6 billion, primarily to replenish military arsenals. The US had consumed several years’ worth of production of multiple types of long-range weapons and anti-aircraft missiles. The cost of the war is estimated at up to $42 billion, according to an analysis by the security institute CSIS.
Source: www.zeit.de
