At 10:05 p.m. ET on Saturday, President Trump declared on Truth Social that “the U.S.A. is locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran, at levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II.”
Yes, that chest-thumping threat probably sounds familiar; back in April, Trump announced, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”
Also spurring a sense of déjà vu was Trump’s subsequent claim that “we have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to. This would include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat. Based on this request, I have agreed, for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL.”
Now, I know this is going to shock you, but it turns out the Iranians were not so eager to reach a deal after all. Today, Trump again updated the world via the social media app that he partially owns:
Iranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous! They ask for a meeting, some would say “beg,” talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that they’re not having any discussions, that nothing is being talked about, and they’re only dealing with “Oman.” They then go on to give their usual blather in saying, the Strait of Hormuz will be operated powerfully by them, when it is already completely controlled by the United States Navy and our “Blockade” or, as some say, “The United States Wall of Steel!” Nothing gets through to Iran, unless we want it to, and nothing will get through, unless a Deal, or Total Surrender, is accomplished. Whether Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking of a solution to a problem that they have caused, for decades. It is very simple, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP
I have never seen a president so eager to announce to the world that he has been fooled by the other negotiating party, over and over again. That the Iranian regime is “unbelievably duplicitous” may well be the most easily predicted thing in the history of the world. And yet, we are trapped in this Lucy-and-the-football cycle, where Trump keeps threatening to hit Iran even harder than before, calling it off at the last second, claiming Iran is ready to make a deal, then announcing that Iran wasn’t honest. And then Trump threatens to hit Iran even harder than before, starting the cycle again.