NYT Journo Admits He Was ‘Torn’ On Rooting For U.S. In Iran War

President Donald Trump and a number in his administration have suggested that Democrats and media were actively rooting for the United States to lose the war with Iran — and one New York Times columnist gave a striking example of that during a Saturday interview on CNN.

Foreign affairs columnist Thomas Friedman admitted that he felt torn over fully backing the United States in the ongoing Operation Epic Fury, saying that he wanted the Iranian regime to fall but that he wasn’t sure it was worth the cost of elevating President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Friedman told CNN host Micheal Smerconish that he was all for the end of the Iranian regime, but that it was the likelihood the credit — and with that credit, political capital — would go to Trump and Netanyahu that gave him pause.

WATCH:

Don’t want Iran to lose if it means Trump wins. @TomFriedman of @NYTimes really wants “to see Iran defeated militarily because this regime is a terrible regime for its people and the region,” but on CNN’s @Smerconish he fretted “the problem is I really don’t want to see Bibi… pic.twitter.com/rgPngGXkGc

— Brent Baker 🇺🇲🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@BrentHBaker) April 11, 2026

“I find myself, Michael, in a situation where I really want to see Iran defeated militarily because this regime is a terrible regime for the people and the region,” he explained, saying that the best thing for the Iranian people — and for the region across the board — would be a regime change that resulted in leadership that allowed the people to flourish and thrive.

“I’m all for that. The problem is I really don’t want to see Bibi Netanyahu or Donald Trump politically strengthened by this war because they are two awful human beings,” Friedman continued. “They are both engaged in anti-democratic projects in their own countries. They’re both alleged crooks. They are terrible, terrible people doing terrible things to America’s standing in the world and Israel’s standing in the world.”

“And so I really find myself torn,” Friedman concluded, saying that he was trying to balance his support for a new regime in Iran against his fears that Trump or Netanyahu might get a share of the credit for helping to  bring that about.