K.T. McFarland (Newsmax)
Former deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland told Newsmax on Tuesday the war in Iran “won’t be over before the election,” predicting President Donald Trump will launch new strikes against Iran shortly after the Nov. 3 midterm elections, potentially with support from Gulf Arab states.
McFarland made the prediction on “Rob Schmitt Tonight,” appearing alongside retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt. Trump wrote in an Oct. 8 Truth Social post that “we will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections.”
“The day after the election, he’s going to go in,” McFarland said, arguing that Tehran still believes it can “back Donald Trump into a corner.”
She added that Trump gave Iran “every opportunity to take the off-ramp,” but she claimed Iran had violated every agreement reached.
The president, she said, must be concluding “there’s only one way to do this. And that’s the hard way.”
The United States and Israel launched the war Feb. 28, and Iran has regularly targeted U.S. partners around the Persian Gulf since then, CBS News reported.
McFarland said “for the first time, we will probably be joined by the Gulf Arabs,” naming Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.
“That’s Iran’s worst nightmare,” she said.
Holt agreed that the conflict will go “exactly this way,” warning that “there’s no reverse gear in this war.”
Walking away now, he said, would leave nuclear weapons within reach of “revenge-minded Armageddon psychopaths.”
He predicted a second phase in which the United States would support what he described as an uprising in southeastern Iran, potentially leading to the regime’s downfall and allowing Iranians to choose their own leader.
McFarland also defended Trump against a Wall Street Journal editorial headlined “To Russia With Love, Signed Donald.” It criticized his decision to waive new tariffs on major buyers of Russian energy and ease sanctions.
Earlier this month, Trump announced a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to supply diesel, and the Treasury Department issued a temporary license allowing Russian diesel onto global markets, The Associated Press reported.
U.S. diesel prices averaged $6.23 a gallon on Oct. 9, near a record $6.52 set Sept. 22.
McFarland downplayed the diesel move as “a very minor thing” and pointed to Europe. She said “the Europeans are still buying Russian oil and gas,” arguing they send Moscow more in energy payments than they send Ukraine in weapons.
“So please, pot-kettle, don’t call us black,” she said.
European Union countries imported about 1.43 billion euros ($1.61 billion) worth of Russian pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas in September, Al Jazeera reported, citing the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
The EU plans to phase out Russian natural gas next year.
McFarland described Russia’s war in Ukraine as a frozen conflict akin to World War I trench warfare, “all just a meat grinder.”
Trump, she said, is trying “anything he can think of to try to get momentum” toward an agreement.
Holt said European leaders won’t respond to Trump’s diplomatic overtures and noted that Trump has repeatedly warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
He predicted talks among China, Russia, and the United States.
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