Analysis: The significance of Trumpâs bluffs on Iran | CNN Politics
On the fifth day of the Iran war, March 4, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had a defiant message for Americaâs enemies. âThe terrorists made a bet that President Trump would be like many of his predecessors â that he would just talk, and he would refuse to enforce his clear red lines,â she began. âBut that has proven to be a catastrophic error in judgment.â âPresident Trump does not bluff,â Leavitt added. That was already a suspect message, given Trumpâs demonstrated history of empty threats and blown deadlines on the Russia-Ukraine war. But the last five weeks, perhaps more than any other period in Trumpâs two terms as president, have revealed him for the bluffer that he is â and on one of the largest and most significant scales imaginable. On five separate occasions, the president has set deadlines for Iran to come to his terms or face his wrath. And each time, heâs delayed that deadline despite little or no public evidence that Iran met the terms as he laid them out. The idea that Trump has âTACOâ-ed has become a punchline for his critics. But itâs not that funny. As the Trump who once pilloried Barack Obama for failing to enforce his S
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