New Delhi, July 29 -- WASHINGTON - Fox News host Brian Kilmeade revealed Monday that President Donald Trump told him the Iran war is "not popular" among Americans but that he views it as "necessary" anyway, a rare private concession that cut against the White House's public framing and matched polling showing roughly seven in ten Americans oppose the military campaign.

few voices in American media have been more consistently supportive of Trump's foreign policy than Kilmeade, making his willingness to relay the president's private reservations about the war's public standing all the more notable.

Trump also told Kilmeade that Gulf nations were "not thrilled with a major attack right now," according to Kilmeade's account. That characteri...