Trump’s Brain Fog of War

Exclusive new polling finds that Americans have no idea what the president is trying to achieve in Iran—probably because he keeps changing the story, himself. And they’re not thrilled about his war with the pope, either.

The takeaway from that thicket of answers is that there is no consensus view among voters as to what the war is for. In the survey, a majority of voters (56 percent) said that Trump has not clearly communicated why the U.S. is at war with Iran, a number that includes 66 percent of independents and 19 percent of Republicans. Only 35 percent said that Trump has made his reasons clear.

Peter Hamby

April 21, 2026

Join Puck to listen to this article

This morning, just hours before peace talks between the United States and Iran appeared to break down, Donald Trump called into one of his favorite shows, CNBC’s Squawk Box. A revealing moment arrived about six minutes into the phone interview, when Joe Kernen told the president that “we are kind of tight on time,” and they would need to wrap it up after one more question or two. But Trump being Trump, the president blew past the time limit given to him by the White House, yapping about the war and promising that “a great deal” with Iran would soon be hashed out in Pakistan. The interview kept going, and going, and going… for a full 37 minutes, concluding more than half an hour after Kernen told him they were about to wrap up.