Donald Trump is reportedly poised to strike a significant blow to global peace Tuesday when he is due to announce whether the U.S. will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.
Of course, GOP lawmakers are giddy at the prospect.
The last-ditch efforts of French President Emmanuel Macron and Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel seem to have failed to assuage Trump, who had called the deal everything from “horrible” to “disgusting” to “one of the worst deals I have ever witnessed.” The New York Times writes:
Mr. Trump’s decision, while long anticipated and widely telegraphed, plunges America’s relations with European allies into deep uncertainty. They have committed to staying in the deal, raising the prospect of a diplomatic and economic clash as the United States reimposes stringent sanctions on Iran.
It also raises the prospect of increased tensions with Russia and China, which also are parties to the agreement. [...]
The president’s own aides had persuaded him twice last year not to take this step.
Enter foreign policy hawks John Bolton as Trump's national security adviser and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the country's supposed "top diplomat." Really, it's hard to know whether we should even hope they have a backup plan. Failure to have one would amount to political malpractice but whatever alternative they come up with could be worse than nothing at all.
For what it’s worth, support for the deal has surged of late, with a Morning Consult/Politico poll last week finding a record-high 56 percent of Americans in support of it while 26 percent oppose it, and a CNN poll this week finding 63 percent of Americans believe we shouldn’t withdraw from the deal.
Tuesday, May 8, 2018 · 6:29:22 PM +00:00
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Kerry Eleveld
UPDATE: Trump announced he is in fact pulling the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal in a speech that could probably be dubbed “A window to global carnage.” Trump said:
“I will sign a presidential memorandum to begin reinstating U.S. nuclear sanctions on the Iranian regime. We will be instituting the highest level of economic sanction. Any country that helps Iran in it's quest for nuclear weapons could also be strongly sanctioned by the United States. America will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail.”
Trump never made the case that Iran was in violation of deal and both Defense Sec. Mattis and now Sec. of State Pompeo have said Iran has continued to be in compliance.