“But the American people are probably not willing to accept the level of pain economically in the world that is commensurate with what Iran is willing to tolerate for its own people.”

Morris argued that Iran’s leadership has historically demonstrated a willingness to absorb significant hardship in pursuit of geopolitical goals — a dynamic that could create a mismatch with what U.S. voters would accept if tensions escalate and disrupt global markets.

Because of that imbalance, Morris said the United States should focus on limiting Iran’s ability to cause widespread harm rather than pursuing broader goals such as regime change.

“The objective must become to curb Iran’s ability to inflict massive global harm and stop Iran from destroying the global economy,” Morris said. “Even if Iran is allowed to survive, that’s good enough for us.”

Morris also warned that conflicts abroad have historically damaged U.S. presidents when policy goals become too expansive or idealistic.

“I think that there’s a real potential here for serious damage to the MAGA coalition and to President Trump,” he said.

Morris said he had written down his thoughts earlier in the day to clarify the risks.

“The presidents failed when their policy objectives become so important to them that they take over their administration and lead them to destroy themselves,” Morris said.

“[Former President Lyndon B.] Johnson in Vietnam, [Former President Joe] Biden in Afghanistan, Bush 43 [former President George W. Bush] in Iraq are potent examples of how idealism gone astray took over the presidency and led to its ruin.”

He said in those conflicts, U.S. military dominance did not translate into lasting victory because adversaries were willing to endure far greater hardship.

“In these cases, the willingness of our adversaries, economic and human, exceeded our ability to accept pain and led to a humiliating defeat,” Morris said. “We will always fail to realize how a modern military arsenal is no match for our enemy’s fanaticism.”

Morris cautioned that U.S. military superiority could create a sense of overconfidence if policymakers assume battlefield strength alone will determine the outcome.

“It’s easy to see how military superiority could lead Trump to overconfidence and his administration to ruin,” he said. “And this is really what worries me.”

Instead, Morris said Trump should narrow U.S. objectives to preventing Iran from inflicting major economic or geopolitical damage while avoiding a broader effort to overthrow the Iranian regime.

“Stop them from destroying the world’s economy, stop them from inflicting tremendous harm,” Morris said. “But don’t accept the political destruction of MAGA in an effort to change the regime in iran.