You know were in trouble when President Donald Trump looks like the adult in the White House.
Starting on May 5, Trumps hawkish national security adviser, John Bolton, dramatically escalated pressure on Iran dispatching an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers, ordering up contingency plans to send 120,000 troops, warning against allegedly threatening behavior.
Trump finally intervened, saying hes not interested in launching a new war in the Middle East. He sent Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to reassure allies that he wants negotiations, not airstrikes.
That shouldnt be a surprise. Trump campaigned for the presidency on a promise to end Americas long, costly wars. He enjoys thumping his chest remember when he warned North Korea of fire and fury like the world has never seen but the bluster is intended to jump-start negotiations, a pursuit at which Trump believes he has no peer.
So it has been with Iran. After all the tough talk and menacing warships, Trumps basic demand of the ayatollahs was almost plaintive: Can we talk?
What they should be doing is calling me up, the president said May 9. We can make a deal, a fair deal.
The minicrisis with Iran wasnt the first time Boltons efforts to put the U.S. on a war footing has conflicted with Trumps preference for deal-making. That difference has produced a remarkable string of public disagreements between the president and his chief national security adviser.
On North Korea, Bolton has argued that the United States will never persuade Kim Jong Un to give up nuclear weapons, and that Trump should consider military strikes instead. Trump disagrees, and even removed Bolton briefly from his negotiating team.
In Syria, after Islamic State lost its self-declared caliphate, Bolton said U.S. troops would stay in the country until the last Iranian went home. Trump overruled him and ordered the troops out. (He later relented, but still insists the troop commitment will be brief.)
In Venezuela, Bolton was the administrations leading champion of a U.S.-backed coup attempt against the autocratic regime of Nicolas Maduro. When the coup collapsed, Trump was furious, reportedly raging that Bolton had misled him about the chances of success.
In Iran, Bolton has long promoted regime change as his goal. Earlier this year, on the 40th anniversary of Irans revolution, he posted a taunting video message to the countrys leader: I dont think youll have many more anniversaries to enjoy.
Thats not Trumps message.
Were not looking to hurt Iran, the president told reporters. I want them to be strong and great.
All those collisions raise a question: Why does Bolton still have his job?
After last weeks war scare, Washingtons gossip mill went into overdrive. Insiders traded stories of Trumps annoyance with his national security adviser, especially over the perception that Bolton, not the president, was making key decisions.
