From the opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal, this is Potomac Watch.

How goes the U.S. Israeli war with Iran on day three of the bombing that began on Saturday morning.

How long does President Trump have to continue his campaign before his domestic support starts to decline?

And what do we know about what is happening inside Iran after the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Hamini, the Supreme Leader?

Those are just a few of the many questions that are

swirling about in the wake of the president's momentous decision to join Israel in a campaign

against the Iranian regime. Lots to talk about here. I'm Paul Giego and Potomac Watch.

Last week, I talked with Elliot Kaufman,

who's with me again. The question we asked then, Elliot, was, will the president go to war?

We've had our answer. Elliot, of course, has tracked events in the Middle East for years.

So let's listen first to the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hagseth, at the Pentagon here on Monday morning,

about the run-up to the decision to bomb.

President Trump, Secretary Rubio, Steve Whitkoff, Jared Kushner, they bent over backwards

for real diplomacy offering pathway after pathway to peace.

I watched it.

I was there.

They tried over and over and over again, earnest attempts at peace. I watched it. I was there. They tried over and over and over again, earnest

attempts at peace. The former regime had every chance to make a peaceful and sensible deal.

But Tehran was not negotiating. They were stalling, buying time to reload their missile stockpiles and restart their nuclear ambitions.

Their goal, hold us hostage, threatening to strike our forces.

Yeah, Elliot, this is one of the puzzles here about this whole recent episode.

You had the strike in June, which the Iranian regime, this was the Israel-U.S.

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