A President Adrift in a Sea of Confusion

The past week has been marked by another deadline that the Trump administration failed to meet, this time the expiration of the Iran memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Friday. The MOU itself was flawed from the start, unable to produce meaningful negotiations or protect the critical Strait of Hormuz.

Despite the president’s tweets about blocking Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, his own administration’s assessments suggest that this is not a pressing concern. Furthermore, Trump’s calls for higher gasoline prices as a necessary evil in preventing Iranian proliferation have been met with skepticism by Vice President Pence, who has stated that lowering fuel prices is now “goal number one” of the war.

This contradictory stance is merely the latest manifestation of Trump’s incoherent approach to foreign policy. His administration’s inability to agree on clear goals for the Iran war matches its failure to develop a coherent strategy for achieving them.

A War Without End

The conflict in Iran has been a disaster from the start, marked by a brief cease-fire and an MOU that failed to deliver on its promises. The real aim of any diplomatic or military action now is resuming ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran seized early in the conflict – a risk foreseen by many analysts but not by Trump.

The president’s refusal to accept this reality has led him down a path of escalating tensions with Iran and his own allies. His threat to attack Oman, a regional ally that has attempted to broker a solution through negotiations with Iran, highlights the administration’s willingness to risk destabilizing an already volatile region.

A Pattern of Betrayal

The Trump administration’s treatment of its allies has become increasingly erratic over the past two years. The president’s announcement last week that he would be curtailing joint military exercises with South Korea – citing his “very good relationship” with Kim Jong Un – is merely the latest example of his willingness to sacrifice American interests for personal vanity.

This supposed friendship with North Korea, which has produced nothing but empty promises and continued nuclear proliferation, illustrates Trump’s failed approach to diplomacy. At the same time that he claims to be preventing nuclear proliferation in Iran, he is bestowing favors on a regime that has made no concessions and continues to pose a significant threat to regional stability.

A Doctrine of Chaos

Throughout his two terms in office, many analysts have sought to discern a guiding doctrine or philosophy behind Trump’s foreign policy. However, the incoherence of his actions over the past week should provide further evidence that looking for a framework is futile. The White House’s own foreign-affairs philosophy has been described as “fuck around and find out” – a phrase meant as a warning to other countries but now being lived by the administration itself.

As the current crisis festers, it becomes increasingly clear that Trump’s approach to foreign policy is driven by his own whims and personal relationships, with little regard for the consequences or long-term implications of his actions. His administration’s inability to provide coherent leadership has created a situation in which even its closest allies are unsure what to expect from the United States. This lack of clarity will only continue to destabilize an already fragile region, further exacerbating the chaos that Trump’s foreign policy has unleashed.