Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has sparked fears the US is heading for war with Iran after a secret briefing from the Trump administration on Tuesday.
Schumer emerged after a meeting held by Secretary of State Marco Rubio with the ‘Gang of Eight’ – a select bipartisan group of lawmakers who receive classified national security briefings.
‘This is serious, and the administration has to make its case to the American people,’ the Democratic veteran told reporters without elaborating on details.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe was also present at the meeting which came just hours before Donald Trump is set to deliver the State of the Union address at 9pm.
The landmark speech which the President hopes will reset his faltering agenda has already been overshadowed by the specter of war with Iran as the US assembles its largest military force in the region since the Iraq War.
Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are meeting their Iranian counterparts in Geneva on Thursday.
But talks to avert all-out war with the Islamic regime are rapidly deteriorating. Trump has ramped up his threats in an effort to bend Iran into agreeing a deal to end its nuclear program, but so far Tehran has refused ‘zero enrichment’.
The President trashed reports Monday that he is planning ‘fake limited strikes’ amid reports the US is running low on missile stockpiles.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer arrives at a press conference with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein ahead of Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Capitol Hill on Tuesday
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine reportedly warned Trump that US troops would be ‘sitting ducks’ as arms had been depleted in bolstering Ukraine and Israel.
Trump dismissed the ‘fake news’ and said ‘Razin’ Caine and he were in agreement that the US should avoid war with Iran but that it would be ‘easily won’ if necessary.
Caine warned the President that the mission is now fraught with significant risk to American lives, sources claimed.
