How Trump officials 'tied themselves in knots' — and gave Iran the upper hand

President Donald Trump has given Iran the upper hand in the ongoing Iran war ceasefire, despite his MAGA supporters insisting he knows what he is doing.

“Perhaps the most bizarre moment in the monthslong Iran war occurred in mid-April, when President Donald Trump insisted that Tehran had just ‘agreed to everything’ he had demanded,” CNN’s Aaron Blake reported. “That didn’t pan out, of course. And there’s no reason to believe the agreements existed — even tentatively — anywhere except in Trump’s own head. Pretty much everything else continues to suggest, even weeks later, that the two sides remain far apart.”

Blake cited this as one of many occasions in which Trump has appeared to claim that he has prevailed in the Iran war without actually specifying what he has achieved or indicating that he is willing to commit to more fighting if he does not achieve it.

“He and his administration have tied themselves in knots to explain why they keep giving Iran latitude and time,” Blake wrote. “But while this approach might occasionally calm the markets, Iranian leaders seem to be taking it as a signal that they can just wait out a US president who doesn’t want to go back to full-scale war.”

The CNN journalist continued by pointing out that, although the ceasefire began a little more than a month ago, Trump has yet to provide evidence that it has created the conditions necessary for a deal. Instead, Blake observed, “it mostly seems to have given two sides that would prefer not to fight right now an excuse not to fight,” a position that is ultimately more beneficial to Iran “which has telegraphed its willingness to dig in for a prolonged conflict.”

Blake added, “For Trump administration officials, that risks looking like they’re being willingly strung along while they try to figure out a face-saving exit from a potential quagmire.”

Blake is not alone in observing that Trump seems to bluster about what he will do to Iran without possessing a sincere and sustained desire to continue that conflict. Writing for The Atlantic, Jonathan Lemire spoke to an “outside adviser” who speaks “regularly” with the president and claims that Trump does not want the war to be prolonged.

"Trump really, really wants the war with Iran to end,” Lemire reported. The president is concerned that public dissatisfaction with the loss of life, rising prices on gas and food and his seeming deviation from promising to avoid new wars will all combine to hurt him politically in the upcoming midterm elections.

"He doesn’t want to be bogged down in a Middle East conflict like some of his predecessors were. He doesn’t want it to upend his high-stakes summit next week in China. He is ready to move on," Lemire explained.