Iran Strike Could Pose Risks, Top General Reportedly Warns Trump

• Gen. Caine reportedly expressed his views at a White House meeting last week, as per the people cited in the report. 
• The report also noted that in earlier Pentagon meetings through the month, Gen. Caine also raised worries over the scale of actions against Iran, its complexity and the possibility of high U.S. casualties. 
• Meanwhile, Trump denied these claims in a post on Truth Social, saying that while Gen. Caine would like not to see war, but if it were to happen, he believes the U.S. would easily win. 

Pentagon’s top military staff, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has reportedly warned U.S. President Donald Trump that any major operation against Iran would be risky.

According to a report from The Washington Post on Monday, citing people familiar with the discussions, the top general said that a lack of critical military equipment and support from allies would put the operation and the country’s personnel at risk.

Gen. Caine reportedly expressed his views at a White House meeting last week, as per the people cited in the report. 

The news comes as the U.S. contends with the possibility of President Donald Trump’s significant military action against Iran if diplomacy fails in the upcoming meeting in Geneva this Thursday. These concerns have continued to weigh down on the stock market.

Meanwhile, Trump denied these claims in a post on Truth Social, saying that while Gen. Caine would like not to see war, “but if a decision is made on going against Iran at a Military level, it is his opinion that it will be something easily won.” 

The Warning

Gen. Dan Caine said that any military action against Iran will be challenging since the U.S. war weapons stockpile has been significantly depleted due to America’s support to Israel and Ukraine, as per the report from the Post. 

The report also noted that in earlier Pentagon meetings through the month, Gen. Caine also raised worries over the scale of actions against Iran, its complexity and the possibility of high U.S. casualties. 

The general has said that any operation would be made all the more difficult by a lack of allied support, this person said, speaking like others on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Trump’s Reaction

“He has not spoken of not doing Iran, or even the fake limited strikes that I have been reading about, he only knows one thing, how to WIN and, if he is told to do so, he will be leading the pack,” Trump said in his post.

Trump indicated earlier this month that he is considering a limited military strike on Iran as leverage to pressure its leadership into agreeing to a deal to restrict its nuclear program. 

The U.S. on Thursday will discuss nuclear weapons with counterparts in Geneva. 

Trump said in his post that he would rather have a deal, and if not “it will be a very bad day for that Country (Iran) and, very sadly, its people, because they are great and wonderful, and something like this should never have happened to them.”

Meanwhile, U.S. equities were in green in Monday’s after-hours trade. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was up by 0.07% at the time of writing, the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) climbed up 0.09%, and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) increased 0.04%. 

Retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF on Stocktwits was in the ‘bearish’ territory.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.

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