Ex-Trump adviser Kellogg says prez should brace Americans for Round Two with Iran: Buckle up

President Trump shouldn’t waste time chasing a final Iran deal — and instead prepare Americans for resuming military operations by targeting Tehran’s economic lifeline, retired Lt.Gen.

Keith Kellogg told The Post.“[We should be telling Americans] the fight’s not over.It’s going to take a day or two — buckle up,” Kellogg, a former Trump adviser, said in an interview Wednesday.

“The American people are great about that … if they explain it to them, they’ll understand it.”Kellogg is skeptical of the ongoing 60-day US-Iran talks outlined in the memorandum of understanding signed by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian last month.If the talks fail, Kellogg said the administration should consider taking Kharg Island, the critically important energy hub through which 80% to 90% of Iran’s oil exports flow.“This is when you go to someplace like Kharg Island,” he said.

“You can take it, wholly control the oil.”Kellogg said Trump deserves credit for trying diplomacy first — and for boldly acting to denuclearize Iran — but argued the MOU talks are unlikely to change the behavior of a regime that has spent decades using negotiations to buy time.“They think differently,” said Kellogg, who served as the National Security Council’s chief of staff during the first Trump administration.“They use negotiation as a tool.

They don’t see negotiation the same way we do.”Kellogg’s comments come as Trump has discussed resuming full-scale war with Iran, but is opting to stay the course with diplomacy — for now.The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Trump has spoken to War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen.Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about abandoning peace talks and launching additional strikes against the Islamic Republic, but has decided negotiations are currently the best way to ensure Iran dismantles its nuclear weapons program.A US official on Wednesday told The Post that Trump “knows e...