Of course, he doesn’t say “at most,” or anything like that. He’s just throwing numbers out there. I am pretty certain that they (a) have no idea how long it’ll last, and (b) are kind of surprised by the fact that Iran didn’t instantly fold.
No, I feel that’s what he said.
“You can say four weeks, but it could be six, it could be eight, it could be three.”
Not “Or it could be longer.”
He said the war would last for a period of time ranging from three weeks to eight weeks.
I do agree that they “have no idea how long it’ll last”. But I don’t think they’re aware that they have no idea.
I think that is what Hegseth would like people to take away from that; I imagine that he knows that a lot of Americans are already disapproving of the war, and want to know when it’ll end.
But, again, note that he did not say anything that he can be pinned down to after eight weeks, if the war is still going on; he did not literally say that it won’t go any longer than eight weeks, and used lots of “could be.”
That narrows it down.
“Oh, you dont have to call me Mr. Johnson…..”
(for those to young to know about this:)
Kristi Noem is out at DHS.
It was a stupid thing to say. It set a specific deadline, which means Trump and Hegseth’s plan can be objectively measured. And Hegseth was the one who set the standard.
The war started on February 28. Which means starting on April 26, people will start asking Hegseth and Trump why the war isn’t over.
Hegseth should have said something vague like “We expect a quick victory.” That would have given him some ambiguity, so that if we’re still fighting in 2028, he could claim that’s what he meant by “quick”.
That’s exactly what came to my mind. I made a mental note to find the commercial and post it, and then I came across your post. 
So is Corey Lewandowski:
Eight weeks is when we run out of SAM defense weaponry, declare victory, and bug out.
Is she going to have to move out of the Coast Guard Commander’s house?
No kidding.
Apparently this is over a lack of “loyalty” to Trump.
Noem was engaged in some financial corruption. There was a ad campaign for the Department of Homeland Security and Noem gave a contract (which was over $200,000) to a friend.
She testified under oath that Trump had been aware of this before the fact and had approved it.
Trump is now saying he never heard anything about this and that Noem is lying.
Over $200,000 you say?
Gee, I hope no one forgets to pack her special blankie. That person could be fired or shot.
The entire ad campaign had a budget of over $220,000,000. The contract in question was for $226,137.17, which was paid to a company called Strategy Group to make some tv and radio ads.
Strategy Group is owned by Ben Yoho, who is a friend and business associate of Noem. The company was not paid directly by the government; they were paid through a front company that was founded just eleven days before being awarded this contract, which then passed the contract and the money on to Strategy Group.
Noem claims the contract was awarded by the normal (and legally required) bidding process but there is no evidence to back this up.
I would speculate that the reason a front company was used is because Noem had a previous scandal involving Strategy Group when she was Governor of South Dakota. That time she hired the company to do an ad campaign for her and paid them $8,500,000 out of government funds.
8 weeks is just a bit over 60 days…
The War Powers Resolution requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces to military action and forbids armed forces from remaining for more than 60 days, with a further 30-day withdrawal period, without congressional authorization for use of military force (AUMF) or a declaration of war by the United States.
Now, AFAIK; Trump is, so far, following some laws by notifying congress within the 48 hours of the attack.
My wife just asked, ‘Did Trump do anything stupid today?’
I answered, ‘I don’t know. Is it a weekday or a weekend?’
How about answering “Three stupid things before breakfast, then he picked up speed. Same as every other day, Dear.”?
Trump only does stupid things on days that end with “y.”
Any scenario that involves Trump picking up speed seems unrealistic.