People have often justified the president’s personal failings by arguing that they make him a good deal-maker. The Iran crisis shows me why this argument fails.
President Trump wants the Europeans to deploy military forces to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. This follows a year of insulting Europe and threatening to take Greenland by force. Like anyone else, Europeans do not like being insulted and threatened, and so they will not rush to bail us out.
The president wants the public’s trust on Iran. This follows a year of failing the public on issues ranging from tariffs to immigration enforcement to the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein. No one is inclined to trust Trump on this, the most controversial decision of his presidency.
The president wants Iran to negotiate. This follows a year of killing boatloads of Iranian negotiators. Just last week, a joint U.S.-Israeli airstrike attempted to kill foreign minister Kamal Kharazi, considered to be one of the most reasonable members of the Iranian Foreign Policy Council. Why would any Iranian leader bother negotiating when the thanks they’ll receive is a bomb to their front door?
What ever happened to the art of the deal?
Daniel Kline
Delmont