Richard Haass: “The president gave a primetime address last night. Normally, when presidents do such a thing, they intend to make a major announcement. I thought it was 70% likely that Trump would declare victory (in the process, misrepresenting or exaggerating what had been accomplished) and lay out an exit strategy. I gave it around a 30% chance that he would escalate, either by undertaking a mission to pressure Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz (perhaps by seizing one or more islands) or by attempting to take possession of and extract Iran’s known enriched uranium. Both, inevitably, involve boots on the ground.”
“What I didn’t foresee was that he would do neither.”
