President Donald Trump claimed he was “getting a lot of praise” for not striking Iran in retaliation for the downing of a US surveillance drone. Yet he also warned Tehran that a conflict with the US would lead to “obliteration”, before promising to “make Iran great again” if it abandoned its nuclear ambitions.
“Everyone was saying I’m a warmonger. Now they’re saying I’m a dove,” Mr Trump said, summing up a tense week that saw the US and Iran come dangerously close to war. “I’m neither?.?.?.?I’m a man with common sense.”
The way the president has described the circumstances surrounding his decision to abort strikes on Iran, minutes before they were set to occur, and his other contradictory remarks about the crisis in the Gulf, have created a perception of chaotic decision-making in the White House.