President Donald Trump, amid ongoing negotiations with Iran and a new spate of U.S. military strikes against it, spent part of Tuesday morning watching Fox News and posting thanks on social media to on-air commentators who praised his efforts in the region.

U.S. and Iranian diplomats are once again negotiating toward an agreement to end the three-month war. Over the weekend, Republican hawks warned that the rumored terms of a preliminary deal were too favorable to Iran; Iranian leaders portrayed them as a victory; and Trump stressed that the result of negotiations “will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all — Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before,” while also demanding that various Middle Eastern countries “at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords” with Israel. The U.S. military then launched “self-defense” new strikes on Iran on Monday, which Iran said Tuesday will trigger retaliation.

Against this backdrop, the president of the United States spent Tuesday morning watching Fox News, his typical source for both information that shapes his worldview and praise to salve his various grievances. We know this because he posted on social media about segments that captured his fancy soon after they aired, a phenomenon I’ve termed the Fox-Trump feedback loop.

“Great job on FoxNews by Alex Gray. Thanks Alex!!!” Trump posted to Truth Social shortly after 6 a.m. ET. The president was responding to a segment that featured Gray, formerly the chief of staff of the National Security Council under Trump, which aired during the previous hour. 

Gray, during that Fox & Friends First segment, said that Trump’s call for Middle East states to join the Abraham Accords was “a strategic master stroke” that will “leave the region much better off than it was before the war started.” He later added that “President Trump has orchestrated a strategic victory against the Iranian regime,” and said the Iranians should recognize that “it’s time to cut their losses and mitigate the damage that they have done to themselves and to the region.”

Hours later, the president praised another Fox guest for saying nice things about him on TV. “Great job by Congressman Derrick Van Orden on FoxNews,” he posted at 8:18 a.m., adding, “A real PRO!”

Van Orden, during his Fox & Friends appearance roughly 50 minutes earlier, touted the administration’s handling of the negotiations. “The Iranian mullahs have to understand that their window of opportunity is rapidly closing,” he said. “I have the utmost confidence in President Trump, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth to make sure that the interests of the United States and the world at large are taken care of.” 

The Wisconsin Republican went on to tout “the real Donald Trump” as someone who “cares deeply for American service members and Gold Star families” and ripped Senate Republicans for criticizing the Iran negotiations and failing to pass the president’s priorities. 

Trump on Monday morning likewise praised “Mike” for his “nice words on Fox” and wished him “good luck on the Show!” Roughly 90 minutes earlier, Fox & Friends hosted former Navy SEAL Mike Sarraille to discuss the Iran war and promote his Fox Nation series chronicling the lives of those buried at Arlington National Cemetery. And just after 1 a.m. on Sunday, the president posted a mangled quote from the midnight reairing of Mark Levin’s Fox show. 

It’s apparently another make-or-break week where the direction of national and global affairs turns on what the president sees on Fox — though whatever he ends up deciding to do, the network’s hosts will surely fall in line.