For a moment this week, Donald Trump hinted that he was preparing for an off-ramp from the US’s war against Iran. The conflict, the US president said, was “very complete”. As intended, his comments had a soothing effect on rattled energy markets. The price of oil dipped below $90 a barrel having earlier soared to nearly $120. But once markets had closed on Monday, Trump was, once again, sending out conflicting signals. The US, he said, would not “relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated”, adding: “We haven’t won enough.”
His shifting comments underscored his cavalier attitude towards a devastating war. Since launching the biggest conflict in the Middle East in decades after being spurred on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump has been boastful, belligerent and confusing in equal measure. The critical question of how the conflict ends is left unanswered. He has failed to articulate a clear set of goals or a day-after plan. He has spoken about destroying the Islamic republic’s ballistic arsenal and nuclear programme, a Venezuela-style leadership change, and an “unconditional surrender”.
On Monday, he described the war, which involves the biggest US military deployment in the Middle East since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, as a “little excursion”. At the weekend, he dismissed concerns about rising fuel prices as “a little glitch”. His administration appears to have underestimated the repercussions of the conflict it unleashed and failed to understand its enemy.