President Donald Trump is threatening to escalate the U.S. military buildup surrounding Iran if Tehran doesn’t agree to the deal he is demanding. “We have an armada that is heading there and another one might be going,” Trump told Axios yesterday, adding that he’s “thinking” about sending another aircraft carrier strike group. A U.S. official confirmed that there had indeed been discussions about sending a second aircraft carrier strike group to the region.
But Trump also expressed optimism about the diplomatic path, claiming Iran “wants to make a deal very badly” and is engaging much more seriously than during previous talks due to the military threat.
Not said by Axios is that for Trump, “diplomacy” means squeezing the other side until they can no longer stand the pain. How else to explain sending two real estate tycoons and a military commander to negotiate with Iran, last week?
