Trump Throws Tantrum Before Agreeing to Recertify Iran Nuclear Deal |
There was a great nugget in thisNew York Times story about the Trump administration's decision on Monday to certify that Iran is complying with the terms of the nuclear agreement it reached with the United States and a coalition of major nations two years ago.
President Donald Trump made ripping up the agreement one of his signature campaign promises, based on his assertions that it was a “bad deal” for America in some vague, undefined ways that probably had more to do with the fact that Obama negotiated it than anything else.
Then he won the presidency and appointed foreign-policy hands who actually know what they are doing and also live in reality. They convinced Trump to certify Iranian compliance — a process that happens periodically, as required by the deal — once before, in April. Monday was the deadline to certify Iran's continued compliance for a second time:
At an hourlong meeting last Wednesday, all of the president's major security advisers recommended he preserve the Iran deal for now. Among those who spoke out were Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson; Defense Secretary Jim Mattis; Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, the national security adviser; and Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to an official who described internal discussions on the condition of anonymity. The official said Mr. Trump had spent 55 minutes of the meeting telling them he did not want to.
In an hourlong meeting with security officials, the president spent 55 minutes whining that he didn't want to take their advice. Why didn't he want to recertify? Who knows. Nowhere in the story is there an explanation of Trump's objections to anything specific in the deal. He just doesn't want to.
The Times also noted:
But some advisers to the president argue that if they can provoke Iran into being the one to scrap the nuclear deal, it will leave the United States in a stronger position.
One has to assume whoever leaked that last bit to the Times reporters did it to sabotage the Trump strategy. Though it is possible the master negotiator from “Art of the Deal” has not learned that telegraphing your intentions ahead of time is a poor tactic for negotiating a deal.
0 comments:
Post a Comment