Trump’s strikes on Iran have been compared to the Nixon-era blitz that ended the Vietnam War

The decorated former general compared President Donald Trump’s standoff with Iran to a historic military coup that helped bring North Vietnam back into peace talks and end America’s involvement in the Vietnam War.

Speaking on “Hannity,” Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg said Trump’s latest use of “kinetic strikes” and heavy threats have brought Iran back to the negotiating table this week.

“The bombing that you took, the kinetic strikes, actually brought the Iranians to the table. It’s not the first time we’ve done that,” Kellogg said Friday.

He compared Trump’s move to President Richard Nixon’s 1972 “Linebacker II” bombing campaign, which helped break the deadlock in peace talks.

TRUMP PIVOT IN LAND AS ITS IRAN DEAL, CHECKS TEHRAN IS BLINKING

“If you go back to 1972, we saw the same thing happen with Presidents Nixon and Kissinger when the North Vietnamese were stalling peace talks,” Kellogg said. “Well, he released what was called a Linebacker II. He dropped B-52 bombers over Hanoi and Haiphong and basically bombed them back to the table.”

The Linebacker II mission was used to force North Vietnam to return to difficult peace talks and lasted nearly two weeks as B-52s attacked military targets during Christmas.

WHY TRUMP CONTINUES TO BE SAFE IN IRAN: A PRESIDENT WHO SEES THE WORLD AS HE WANTS IT TO BE

Earlier this week, the US carried out a series of attacks inside Iran in retaliation for Iran shooting down an American Apache helicopter. On Thursday, Trump said he had canceled plans to continue the strikes, citing progress on a potential peace deal.

Kellogg said the strategy unfolding with Iran mirrors the Nixon-era strikes, adding, “You’re seeing the same thing here.”

Trump is “very determined to get a result,” he continued.

President Donald Trump speaks during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House on June 11, 2026, in Washington, DC The remarks came after Trump called off threatened military strikes against Iran following escalating tensions between the two countries. (Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

He also said that Trump’s goal is to dismantle Tehran’s nuclear weapons program, noting that Iran was accelerating the enrichment of uranium to “60%, 70%, 80%”.

“You don’t do that for domestic purposes,” Kellogg warned of Iran’s enrichment levels, adding that stopping the nuclear program “will change the dynamics of the Middle East for decades to come.”

“I’m shocked, absolutely shocked, that so many Americans don’t see this. It’s not for our generation. This is our children’s and our grandchildren’s generation as well. And we have to make sure we have peace in the Middle East,” he added.

EXPERT WARNS OF ‘COMMON FAILURES’ IF HOUTHIS SKIP AGAIN RED SEA CAMPAIGN

On Saturday, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that the US-Iran peace deal would likely be finalized in the next 24 hours, a message Trump retweeted on Truth Social. Pakistan has served as a key mediator in the US-Iran ceasefire talks.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS PROGRAM

“We are closer to a peace agreement than ever before. As it is expected to be finalized in the next 24 hours, Pakistan is preparing for the electronic signing of the peace agreement, followed by technical-level talks next week,” Sharif wrote in X.

“We would like to thank you [the] The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran for their continued commitment during the negotiations, and we express our gratitude to our brothers in the region for their support,” Sharif added.

“We hope that this historic peace agreement will build a solid foundation for lasting peace.”

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman-Diamond contributed to this report.