In a televised interview with Newsmax, United States Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee emphasized that President Donald Trump is applying an economic “real squeeze" on Tehran in the aftermath of joint American-Israeli military strikes.
“He's not just proven that he was willing to bomb them, but he's also willing to bankrupt them," Huckabee stated.
The ambassador noted that the combined military campaign inflicted “an enormous level of damage" on Iran's defense apparatus, leaving the regime at its most vulnerable point since 1979.
During the broadcast, Huckabee commended the Secret Service for their rapid tactical response in shielding President Trump during a recent security scare in Turkey stemming from Iranian assassination plots.
The covert operation involved whisking Trump out of Turkey last month on an alternate military aircraft. Cameras initially showed the president walking onto the customary blue-and-white Boeing 747 used as Air Force One. Shortly after, security personnel surreptitiously transferred Trump and key advisors off the 747 via an airport catering truck, placing them aboard an Air Force C-32A - a modified Boeing 757.
"The president is obviously the most targeted person in the world," Huckabee remarked, praising the agency's performance.
"The number one job of the Secret Service is to protect the president, whatever it takes. What they did was a masterful operation," he said.
Addressing media criticism regarding the trickery involved in the transfer, Huckabee defended the deception: "It fooled everybody, and that is why it was effective. I've heard some people complaining … that he shouldn't have somehow fooled the reporters. "Well, what was he going to do? Tell them that he was taking a different plane?"
"It was all about the security for the president. It was a brilliant plan, and it was executed flawlessly," he declared.
Huckabee stressed that the public should be appreciative of the agency's swift safeguards.
"That's why we have a professional staff of highly trained people who guard the president," he noted, stating further, "And I'm glad they do, because I would hate for something to happen to this president right now. We need him. He's doing an effective job, and the least thing he needs to be worried about is his own safety, right?"
Highlighting the origin of the intelligence that prompted the aircraft switch, Huckabee pointed to key cooperation between allied intelligence services.
"There are threats against the president from Iran," he observed, noting, "They continue all the time. The Israeli Mossad was one of the reasons that they knew that the plot was real. "When people say, what's the benefit of our relationship? There's one right there."
Trump commented on the covert operation in a conversation with reporters on Tuesday, saying, "Well, it's only up to Secret Service. I just follow what they'd like to do, so I go by Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go in a different flight, a different plane ... but they wanted me to do it, so I do it. I do what they say, Trump explained.
“I guess there was a threat out there. I didn't really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats. I have a lot of threats that you don't know about," he added.
In the same conversation, Trump reaffirmed his deep skepticism of Iranian leadership while insisting that the United States remains in a highly advantageous position against Tehran.
"Iran is going fine, going just absolutely fine," Trump remarked to reporters on the tarmac following an official trip to Ohio.
Underscoring his distrust, Trump stated, “I'm the last person to trust Iran. They've lied to me constantly. We have total control over the Hormuz Strait right now. They don't have control. We have total control. We own it. And at some point, maybe they'll do something, and then they get blown away."
He continued, "But we right now, we're in a very good position. We have a country that has been the bully of the Middle East for 50 years. It's been saying 47 for four years. And they're no longer the bully of the Middle East."
These comments follow questions posed to the President a day earlier concerning his previous warnings that ongoing diplomatic talks represented Tehran's final opportunity before "decapitation." When asked what comes next, Trump replied: “You’ll find out."
Pressed on whether a major military escalation remains under consideration, Trump added, “Well, we certainly have that ability if we want to do that. You’ll find out."