President Trump has many personality attributes that make him suited to wield power: Determination and grit among them. Those are all good things to have in a president.
What President Trump does not seem to have is an endless store of patience. At the moment, the American attacks on Iran are again on hold, which administration officials and Iranian officials are setting aside the "war, war" for an interval to return to the "jaw, jaw" side of things. But President Trump doesn't seem too inclined to let that process go on forever.
US President Donald Trump said that the United States is currently negotiating with Iran and will return to war if the talks fail, in an interview with Axios on Monday.
"We are in very deep talks with Iran," Trump told Axios. "If they don't work out, we will go back to very strong military action."
Trump said that he paused US strikes on Iran to give negotiations another chance, Axios reported, with the president adding that he would not give the talks with Tehran "much time."
Trump added that countries involved in the talks told him not to "fire," leading to his decision to hold off on the renewal of major strikes.
The usual cautions apply: As long as the mullahs and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are in place, there will be no lasting deals. Neither side of what's left of the civil and military authorities in Iran can be trusted. They will lie during negotiations, and they will not abide by any agreement made. And, honestly, we're well past the point where the administration can claim "Well, we tried to talk to them."
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to visit the White House later this week:
Trump's comments come as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to Washington for a meeting with the president, the Prime Minister's Office confirmed earlier on Monday.
"I am going to talk to Bibi about the fact that if I weren't president, Iran would have had nuclear weapons by now and Israel would have been destroyed," Trump said of the upcoming meeting.
The two world leaders are expected to discuss the situation with Iran, among several other issues.
It would be fascinating to be a fly on the wall for that conversation.
Read More: Mike Waltz Reveals Why Iran's Regime Is in Even Deeper Trouble
Report: As Its Leaders Fight, Iran May Now Be Coming Apart From Within
An Axios report indicates that Oman is now involved with the negotiations:
- Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi held phone calls on Monday with a number of his counterparts from Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt.
- He said in a statement that the discussions "focused on ways to enhance the prospects for reaching practical, fair, and sustainable arrangements for maritime navigation ... through the Strait of Hormuz."
- One idea is to allow Iran, Oman and other countries in the region to collect "reasonable service fees" for maritime security, environmental protection and other services, according to one regional source.
Allowing any of the Gulf nations to charge a toll for passage through the Strait of Hormuz or anywhere else in the region is a bad, bad idea. This would give Iran a semblance of authority over shipping traffic, and that simply can't be allowed. These people cannot be trusted with any such authority, which would almost certainly turn overnight into a sort of international protection racket.
It's increasingly looking like the only way out of this thing is through. The Iranian regime - what's left of it - hasn't shown any signs of dealing in good faith. Throughout this process, whenever they have agreed to even part of the deal, they have reneged on it, seemingly within minutes. They are liars, they will not keep any deal, and they will return to development of a nuclear weapon as soon as possible, assuming they haven't already done so.
That's what's interesting about the timing of PM Netanyahu's visit. President Trump, who is in the process of shedding his store of patience with Iran, has been holding Israel back from the latest rounds of military strikes on Iran. Could that be about to change?
Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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