Donald Trump on Saturday said that he cancelled the Pakistan trip of his crackerjack diplomatic duo of Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, who can now spend their weekend otherwise... like golfing or cutting private business deals with Gulf states.
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Donald Trump is obsessed with pretending that he alone is dictating the situation in Iran. Saturday served a reminder that he is not… no matter how much the president is trying to spin things.
“I just cancelled the trip of my representatives going to Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet with the Iranians,” he stated in a social media post. “Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work!”
Trump was referring to the intended journey of his son-in-law Jared Kushner and his golf buddy Steve Witkoff, two passionate amateur diplomats who are tasked with resolving a situation they apparently do not understand. According to the White House, the dynamic duo were supposed to meet with Iranian officials.
However, Tehran said no such talks were scheduled. Instead, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had traveled to Islamabad to meet with Pakistani officials in what he later described as a “very fruitful visit.”
“Shared Iran’s position concerning workable framework to permanently end the war on Iran,” Araghchi added. “Have yet to see if the US is truly serious about diplomacy.”
That is a legitimate question.
So far, both sides seem to be working off completely different proposals to end the conflict that the US and Israel began eight weeks ago. Among the issues that appear to be completely unresolved are the enriched uranium Iran possesses and control over the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump in particular keeps making contradictory and nonsensical statements and demands regarding both, so it’s tough to see how even seasoned diplomats could convey a coherent US position… and there are no seasoned diplomats in sight.
Of course, the president is blaming the Iranian side for derailing the negotiations that were never going to happen.
[There] is tremendous infighting and confusion within their ‘leadership,’” Trump stated. “Nobody knows who is in charge, including them.”
While there is no doubt who is in charge on the American side, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t plenty of confusion coming from an erratic president who finds himself mired in a conflict that was supposed to be an easy victory.
However, instead of simply rolling over, Iran has found two effective ways to fight back by leveraging its control over one of the world’s most important waterways and attacking US allies in the region. In combination, the strategy allowed Tehran to make the consequences of the war felt across the globe… including at American gas stations.
And while the US is dominating the conflict militarily, it has not figured out a way to keep Iran from holding the global economy hostage.
Still, Trump on Saturday tried to put a positive spin on things and pretend that he is fully in charge.
“[We] have all the cards, they have none!” he stated. “If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!”
If that is the new strategy, then we imagine that the conflict, and the negotiations to end it, will drag on for some time.
