In case you blinked and missed it, is back to threatening Iran.
And that seems to undercut the idea that his envoys are having very good talks, through intermediaries, with the Iranians.
Just look at the tone of his Truth Social posting yesterday:Â Â
“The United States of America is in serious discussions with A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations . Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately Open for Business, we will conclude our lovely stay in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet touched. This will be in retribution for our many soldiers, and others, that Iran has butchered and killed over the old Regimes 47 year Reign of Terror.”Â
Does that sound like someone who believes hes close to an agreement?
I dont think Trump wants to bomb the hell out of Irans energy facilities. Hes fully aware of how that would escalate the war and keep the U.S. mired in the conflict for many months at a minimum â a worst-case scenario for a man who campaigned against entanglement in foreign wars.
Thats why he extended his deadline by 10 days, to try to work out some compromise with what remains the worlds leading terror state. Its hard to feel an ounce of sympathy for these murderous dictators who are responsible for so many thousands of deaths, including those of their own people.
The president told the New York Post yesterday that the administration has been dealing with Irans parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Ghalibaf, saying well find out within a week “whether he is someone America can truly work with.”
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters yesterday, “I hope journalists in this room are wise enough not to take[the word of] an Iranian regime that has repeatedly lied about our country, about our values, about everyone in this room, frankly, for nearly five decades.”
From the point of view of Iran, which was invaded by British and Soviet forces during , all the regime has to do is survive and then claim victory.
The president is in something of a box. He clearly wants to end our military involvement in Iran, but cant be seen as backing down on his threats.
Trump, at a minimum, needs two things. One is an agreement he can sell as limiting Irans ability to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons. The other is ending Tehrans blockade of “hostile” powers using the Strait of Hormuz, which has choked off 20 percent of the worlds oil traffic.
With the president moving tens of thousands of troops into position in the , he certainly has the boots he needs for a sustained attack.  Â
Trump is, as everyone knows, paying the price at home. The stock market has plummeted, shrinking the retirement accounts of millions of Americans. The cost of living, led by soaring gas prices, keeps rising after an election that was focused on “affordability.”
And the presidents standing has nosedived among young men, many of whom want no part of this war or feel they were misled about foreign wars.
Meanwhile, Irans military machine has been decimated, but it still has the ability to inflict damage with cheap drones. Over the weekend, one such drone injured at least 10 American service members at a Saudi air base, two seriously, and others have caused damage in Israel, killing at least 20 people.
The New York Times says “there has been little apparent progress in the negotiations. Iran has denied holding substantive talks with the United States and has rejected the Trump administrations conditions as unreasonable. The war has raged on, drawing in much of the Middle East, sending oil and gas prices skyrocketing and fracturing Mr. Trumps political support at home.”
The Wall Street Journal
