Uncertainty persists over Trump’s next move on Iran
The president, who acknowledged the war contributed to his party’s midterm rout, has kept his options open. The world is watching with bated breath for President Donald Trump’s next move on Iran following a stunning GOP midterms loss. The loss is a “validation” of Iran’s strategy to make Trump feel “pain” and “embarrassment” from the war, said Nate Swanson, who served as a State Department representative on the second Trump administration’s Iran negotiating team. The Iranians “weren’t making concessions before, and they’re certainly not going to make them now,” he added. “The United States is in a very strong position with control of the Strait of Hormuz and the Iranian economy collapsing. Iran wants a settlement, as soon as possible, and as the President stated, it could happen,” a White House official said, adding that Trump “holds all the cards and will do whatever is best for the United States.” Trump, who acknowledged the war contributed to his party’s midterm rout, has kept his options open. Charles Kupchan of the Council on Foreign Relations, who served in the Obama administration, said for the time being Trump is unlikely to return to full-scale war, given the “primal screa
The president, who acknowledged the war contributed to his party’s midterm rout, has kept his options open. The world is watching with bated breath for President Donald Trump’s next move on Iran following a stunning GOP midterms loss. The loss is a “validation” of Iran’s strategy to make Trump feel “pain” and “embarrassment” from the war, said Nate Swanson, who served as a State Department representative on the second Trump administration’s Iran negotiating team. The Iranians “weren’t making concessions before, and they’re certainly not going to make them now,” he added.
“The United States is in a very strong position with control of the Strait of Hormuz and the Iranian economy collapsing. Iran wants a settlement, as soon as possible, and as the President stated, it could happen,” a White House official said, adding that Trump “holds all the cards and will do whatever is best for the United States.” Trump, who acknowledged the war contributed to his party’s midterm rout, has kept his options open.
Charles Kupchan of the Council on Foreign Relations, who served in the Obama administration, said for the time being Trump is unlikely to return to full-scale war, given the “primal scream in the American electorate” over the conflict and its economic impact. But he cautioned that an unpredictable Trump could always decide “to finish the job.”