On Friday, President Donald Trump said he was considering “winding down” his war with Iran. But a day later, he threatened to “obliterate” the country’s power plants in an escalation that could further tip the conflict out of control.
Erratic messaging on a war entering its fourth week is becoming a pattern.
Trump previously demanded allies send ships to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — a vital oil export choke point. When they demurred, he said he didn’t want help and branded them cowards for not joining a war they opposed. And before he demanded that Iran reopen the strait within 48 hours or face an onslaught on its power plants, he insisted that at some point it would “open itself.”
The whiplash underscores the vital importance of the strait and the impact of a closure that has stranded scores of oil tankers, created an energy price crisis and threatened to nudge the global economy into a recession that could harm millions of people.
But Trump has reached a moment when rhetorical confusion and contradictory threats cannot obscure the consequences of his choices. He may be about to test whether escalating the conflict can somehow point to a way out or will worsen the economic and political consequences he’s already struggling to control.
In the immediate term, the president has drawn a huge new red line for himself, with no sign that Iran will relent by his deadline on its threat to target ships transiting the strait — its premier point of leverage in the conflict.
Source: CNN