President Donald Trump stared down a united front as he huddled with his top national security advisers in July 2017 to decide whether to certify Iran’s compliance with the nuclear deal.
Now Trump and a new set of hawkish advisers are pursuing a full-throttle policy of exerting maximum pressure on Iran, dealing a severe blow to its economy that experts say has painted the country into a corner. The US this week found itself closer than it has in years to the prospect of armed conflict — and instead of cautious aides, the President is now the one hitting the brakes.
Having shed the most tenacious restraints on his hardline and sometimes reckless foreign policy inclinations, Trump has felt liberated to pursue a foreign policy agenda on Iran and other global hotspots that hews more closely to his muscular vision of US power.
But without a clear long-term strategy driving those actions, his current national security adviser, John Bolton, and other Iran hawks in the administration have found themselves in the driver’s seat, pushing the US and Iran closer to a breaking point.
And the President who bemoaned the guardrails that checked him at every impulse-driven bend — including a coterie of generals whose views of war were shaped by their own military experiences — now finds himself unbridled and uneasy.
Trump denied on Friday that anyone aside from him was making decisions on behalf of the administration. He also insisted there were no lingering frustrations at the team that is now crafting his foreign policy.
„I’m not angry, I make my own decisions,“ the President said at a conference of realtors. „(Secretary of State) Mike Pompeo is doing a great job. Bolton is doing a great job.“
It was a cheery view, and one that officials say hasn’t always prevailed as Trump confronts new intelligence showing Iran placing missiles on boats in the Persian Gulf, leading to fears the country could attack US troops in the region.
Forceful response
The circle of advisers who now surround Trump have executed a forceful response to the intelligence — one that current and former officials say hasn’t necessarily jibed with the President’s own instincts.
„We’ve gone from folks who are pushing back on the President and kind of trying to restrain some of his more aggressive tendencies to folks who are actually forcing the President to push back on them and having the President restrain their aggressive tendencies,“ said Fernando Cutz, a former senior adviser to McMaster. „The moderate in the room right now is actually the President.“
Trump indicated as much during an impromptu news conference in the Oval Office last week.
„I actually temper John, which is pretty amazing, isn’t it?“ he said to laughter.
