The Iran Deal Is in the Hands of a Terrible Negotiator

Trump’s political reputation has relied on dealmaking, yet repeated high-stakes exchanges have gone poorly for him. Over nine years, counterparts in North Korea, Russia, and China have outmaneuvered the United States, forcing Trump to return to Washington with limited results. He has sometimes brokered agreements as a third party, but less success when his own government is involved. A major exception involved his administration creating a $1.8 billion slush fund for political allies. The latest example involves Iran, where Trump claimed he was close to a deal ending a war he started and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. As details emerged, the agreement appeared incomplete, postponing the hardest issues like nuclear weapons, and Trump later backed away from claims of imminence.

"Repeatedly over the past nine years, Trump has gotten rolled by counterparts during high-stakes exchanges. North Korea, Russia, Russia again, China, and China again have gotten the better of the United States. Trump has had to slink back to Washington without much to show except empty talk about friendship with whatever dictator has just run circles around him."

"He's had some success in brokering agreements when acting as a third party (though not nearly as much as he pretends) but much less luck when his own government is a participant. The one glaring exception came when he was effectively negotiating with himself, getting his own administration to set up a $1.8 billion slush fund for his political allies."

"Trump posted on Saturday that he was close to striking a deal with Tehran that would end the war he started earlier this year and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. As the outlines of the agreement began to emerge, it looked both incomplete and bad: Trump had postponed discussing the hardest issues-matters, such as nuclear weapons, that led him to go to war-in exchange for opening the strait, which was open before Trump started the war."

"Hawkish Trump allies promptly criticized the deal, and despite histrionic pushback from Trump aides, the president had begun backing off claims of an imminent agreement by Sunday. "If I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good and proper one, not like the one made by Obama," he posted. "Our deal is the exact opposite, but nobody has seen it, or knows what it is. It isn't even fully negotiated""

Read at The Atlantic