It was unusual, and telling, that Donald Trump chose to be flanked by his vice-president, secretary of state and defence secretary when he addressed the American people about “a spectacular military success” in which “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace.”
In normal circumstances, or as normal as things get in the Trump administration, the president would have made his remarks and enjoyed the credit alone. That he felt the need to visibly involve his most senior lieutenants at such a moment suggests both some nervousness about the decision and some doubts about the future course of events even within this sycophantic circle. What, in other words, if Iran doesn’t make peace? What, more to the point, if Israel doesn’t let it?
