CNN Dunks on TACO Trump With Supercut of His Failed Two-Week Deadlines
It turns out this week is certainly not the first time he’s promised action within two weeks.
President Donald Trump has given himself two weeks to decide whether the United States will attack Iran, but CNN points out that this deadline has already been imposed on him several times.
A brief clip of his two-week commitment aired last month, and anchor Kasie Hunt had already highlighted the president’s unfortunate habit of letting deadlines pass without taking action. Carolyn Levitt was challenged Thursday on her repeated use of this same tactic after Trump promised to make a decision on Iran within two weeks.
In the first clip, Trump tells a reporter on April 27 that he will know in about two weeks his next actions regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine. Asked by a reporter for a specific date or timeline, Trump replied, “Well, two weeks or less, or a little more at that point, I would say…” before shrugging.
In the following clip, filmed on May 19, he tells another reporter that he would prefer to answer their question about what’s next in Ukraine in “about two weeks.”
Hunt then draws viewers’ attention to the timestamps on these videos, noting that, as recently as May 28, Trump avoided answering questions about Russia and Ukraine by delaying the discussion for another two weeks.
Nearly a month later, it still hasn’t been clarified that the president’s two-week deadline has passed, and there is no sign of a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine in sight.
Trump’s press secretary was asked about this trend on Thursday. A reporter asked Levitt, “He’s used the phrase ‘about two weeks’ several times, meaning ‘We’re anticipating two weeks,’ and then and then you give another two-week deadline. How can we be sure he’ll keep his word and make a decision on Iran?”
After initially blaming President Biden and accusing Trump of having “inherited” the conflicts in Russia, Ukraine, Israel, and Iran from his “incompetent previous president,” Levitt suggested that Trump’s obsession with a self-imposed two-week timetable stemmed from his desire to find diplomatic solutions to problems.
“The last time the president announced two weeks of negotiations, we saw [Russia and Ukraine] hold direct negotiations for the first time in years,” Levitt told reporters.
“The president is always interested in diplomatic solutions to global problems and conflicts,” she added. “He is a master of peace, a president who believes in peace through strength. If an opportunity for diplomacy presents itself, the president will seize it. But he is not afraid to use force,” she added.
