Candles lit. PJs on. Chamomile tea in hand.
I was just about to head to bed Tuesday when my phone buzzed with a text.
“Briefing tomorrow.”
It was from a War Department official. Hours earlier, the president had agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran. That morning, a briefing with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Forces Gen. Dan Caine had been unexpectedly cancelled. 24 hours later, they were now expected back at the podium.
I put my tea down, cancelled my morning pilates class and pulled out my laptop.
There are 60 seats in the Pentagon briefing room. The room itself is actually much larger than the White House briefing room, but reporters at the Pentagon aren’t allowed to stand in overflow. If you don’t RSVP fast, it’s hard to secure your spot.
I started flipping through headlines on U.S.-Iran conflict headlines and I texted a list of question ideas to my editor.
“Ask for clarity on what the president meant by wiping out a civilization,” he texted back.
It was the perfect question.
About 12 hours before the deadline the president had given Iran to strike a deal, he put out a Truth Social post Tuesday:
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” the president wrote, calling on Iran to negotiate with the U.S.
My phone didn’t stop buzzing all day. Friends, family and big Trump supporters, they were all spooked.
“Hey, you don’t think Trump is actually going to do something, right? I’m a little freaked out.”
“World could get very crazy if Trump executes on this plan … is this part of his strategy? … Scare the crap out of them?”
This is what we like to do here at the Daily Caller. Ask the questions our readers, the everyday American, actually want to know. There’s a lot of thought that goes into every single question I ask the administration.
That’s exactly why I asked. Before I pose a question to the administration, I run a quick gut check: is this something my mom wants to know the answer to? If yes, it’s the right question.
After some fine-tuning of the wording, I landed on this question: