US President Donald Trump has oscillated between hardline and conciliatory approaches since the beginning of the war in the Middle East. On the one hand, he rejects operations that might involve significant losses, such as landing on Kharg Island, and on the other hand, he publishes harsh and emotional ultimatums on social networks without coordinating with his advisors. This is leading to chaos inside the White House and misunderstanding even among the president’s supporters, wrote the Wall Street Journal, which spoke with various sources in the Trump administration.
Thus, Trump’s post calling for “Open the damned strait,” which he published on Easter Sunday and ended with the phrase “Thank God,” sparked confusion among Christian leaders and Republican senators. They called the White House and tried to find out why the president mentioned God and used an expletive on a Christian holiday.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump later explained to an adviser that he himself came up with the idea of mentioning God because he wanted to appear as unbalanced as possible — believing that might force the Iranians to the negotiating table. It was believed that such language would be understandable to Tehran.
Trump’s next post, in which he threatened “the death of an entire civilization” if Iran rejects the deal, as the Wall Street Journal discovered, was also improvised. According to the president’s advisors, he hoped to frighten the Iranians and be able to end the conflict.
The newspaper wrote that Trump’s decision to start the war surprised many who know him well. The US President received it after consultations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and military advisors. He said that he trusts the army in this matter, pointing to the success of the operation in Venezuela, when the Americans were able to arrest President Nicolas Maduro within a few hours.
The Wall Street Journal notes that before the start of the operation in the Middle East, the US President did not do much to convince the public of the necessity of war with Iran. However, he was disappointed when it turned out that the war had lowered the ratings of Republican candidates in the upcoming congressional elections.
As for himself, Trump, who no longer has the right to be re-elected as president, considered the operation in Iran an opportunity to change the world order and make history. “If we do everything right, we will save the world,” one Wall Street Journal source recounts his words.
Since the beginning of the war, all of Trump’s key aides have recommended that he limit his extemporaneous public statements, because they once again showed the public the incoherence of his policies.
Some advisers recommended that the president record an address to the nation to reassure the country that the White House has a plan of action. Trump refused for a long time, but he nevertheless made an appeal on April 1, saying that the United States had already achieved success, and that all the military goals set would be achieved “very soon.” The speech did not increase public support for the president because it did not clarify how or when the United States planned to exit the war.
The Wall Street Journal notes that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has become a “particular source of frustration” for Trump. Before the war began, he was confident that Iran would surrender before it closed the strait – and even if it tried to do so, the US military would not allow it.
When the strait was closed, Trump was surprised at how easily Iran could do so. Then he began to hesitate again between asking the allies to provide support and presenting the United States as a power that does not need anyone’s help. Trump ordered his advisors to begin negotiations with Iran at the end of March.
The newspaper wrote that the American President’s reckless style had never been tested before during a long-term military conflict. The successful capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January only strengthened Trump’s confidence in his actions.
At the same time, as the war progressed, Trump began to think more often about President Jimmy Carter, under whom a failed operation to rescue hostages from the Tehran embassy in 1980, began to fear that the war with Iran would turn into a political disaster for him.
When the Iranians shot down a US plane in early April and left two pilots missing, the president “screamed for hours at his aides,” the Wall Street Journal claims. During the rescue operation, the advisers did not let Trump into the headquarters room, where updates came every minute – they believed that the president’s impatience would only derail the operation, and they conveyed information to him only about its most important stages.
A similar situation is observed with Trump’s contradictory statements regarding negotiations with Iran. He writes The Washington Post. Although US envoy to the United Nations Mike Walz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright confirmed that Vice President J.D. Vance would head the delegation to the Pakistani talks, Trump said otherwise, claiming that Vance would not travel to Islamabad “due to security concerns.” The newspaper wrote that these statements “caused turmoil in the White House,” and officials had to convince reporters again that Vance would lead the delegation.
In a comment to the Washington Post, White House press secretary Anna Kelly blamed these discrepancies on a “bloodthirsty media,” whose reporters first call Trump and then “complain about the answers they receive.” She stressed that Trump is “the most open president in history who is happy to grant journalists access.”