Former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said President Trump is losing credibility regarding the war with Iran and the Strait of Hormuz crisis.
This warning from a former high-ranking official suggests internal concerns that U.S. foreign policy signals are becoming unpredictable, potentially emboldening adversaries during a period of high maritime tension.
In a global exclusive interview with Times Now, Mulvaney said the United States must re-establish its credibility to effectively manage the ongoing conflict. He said that Iran may not yet want to end the war, which complicates diplomatic or military efforts to stabilize the region.
Mulvaney highlighted a pattern of hesitation in the administration's military response. He said that since April, President Trump has called off planned airstrikes on Iran at least five times [1]. This repeated cancellation of military action contributes to the erosion of U.S. standing in the eyes of its opponents.
The Strait of Hormuz remains a central flashpoint in the crisis. Mulvaney said that the lack of a consistent deterrent makes the U.S. position precarious, a situation that requires a restoration of trust in American commitments and threats.
Mulvaney did not provide a specific timeline for when this credibility loss began, but he emphasized that the current trajectory is unsustainable. He said the administration must ensure that its warnings are viewed as credible by Tehran to avoid further escalation.
“President Trump is losing credibility regarding the war with Iran”
The critique from a former Chief of Staff indicates a strategic divide over the 'maximum pressure' approach. By highlighting the cancellation of five planned airstrikes, Mulvaney suggests that the gap between U.S. rhetoric and action has created a credibility vacuum, which may lead Iran to miscalculate the U.S. threshold for military intervention in the Strait of Hormuz.
