Trump’s 'bafflingly incoherent' strategy is 'a remarkable feat of self-sabotage'

President Donald Trump reacts in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., September 19, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno

President Donald Trump is desperate for an off-ramp to escape the deadly and messy war he started with Iran, but according to a new analysis from MS NOW, his "bafflingly incoherent" strategy means that achieving peace may not be possible anytime soon.

Writing for MS NOW on Tuesday, reporter Zeeshan Aleem broke down Trump's dubious claim from Monday that "productive" peace talks were underway with Iranian leaders, something that Iran itself denied. In response, Trump insisted that his special diplomatic envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, had been in touch with an official from Iran, whom he called "the man who I believe is the most respected and the leader," a description vague enough that it could refer to anyone, Aleem argued.

This contradicted Trump's claim from just days earlier, when he said that military strikes had wiped out too much of Iran's leadership for peace talks, stating, "we have nobody to talk to — and you know what? We like it that way."

The reporter noted that there is precedent for Trump claiming that negotiations are underway while the other party denies them. Last year, he claimed that trade talks were taking place with China, an assertion that Beijing promptly shot down. Then, as now, Trump had a major interest in soothing economic instability caused by his reckless policies, Aleem argued, causing him to invent a potential off-ramp.

The likelihood that he will succeed in de-escalating the ongoing Iran war is low, however, due to the haphazard manner in which he has conducted the conflict and the shifting, contradictory goals he has put forward.

"In a remarkable feat of self-sabotage, Trump has manufactured a bona fide political crisis for himself by underestimating Iran’s response to U.S. airstrikes," Aleem wrote. "He is now feeling the heat from soaring gas prices. It is plausible that Trump is trying to invent an off-ramp after cornering himself impulsively."

He continued: "More broadly, Trump’s Iran policy is bafflingly incoherent. It makes little sense to pursue peace negotiations with a country at the exact same time as pursuing a strategy of decapitation and regime change. And given the fact that Trump has already blown up talks with Tehran not just once but twice, with airstrikes in the past year, Iran has little incentive to ever take Trump’s word in future negotiations."

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