ANALYSIS — As Donald Trump hobnobbed with lawmakers at the White House congressional picnic Thursday evening, Israel’s military was striking targets inside Iran just hours after the U.S. president had signaled that he preferred giving diplomatic talks another chance.
The scenes on the South Lawn, and then back inside the West Wing, offered a juxtaposition unique to the presidency. Outside, a small Navy band in all-white uniforms swayed onstage as they played an extended cut of the Commodores’ hit song “Brick House.” Inside, Trump quickly convened a high-level meeting of his national security war council to gather more information about Israel’s attack on its biggest regional rival.
U.S. presidents often have to live in two worlds, something Trump was reminded of Thursday night as he mingled with lawmakers and guests with his domestic policy bill hanging in the balance — only to be confronted with an action by one of America’s closest allies that risks setting the volatile Middle East ablaze with a wider conflict.
