How the president's Iran speech met his news-cycle needs
President Donald Trump speaks Wednesday on Iran's missile strikes that hit bases where U.S. forces were staying in Iraq on Tuesday. Credit: AP/Evan Vucci
President Donald Trump's self-oriented homily on Iran, Iraq and the Mideast left plenty of big questions unanswered, as expected.
"All is well," he tweeted to hype the morning speech.
His face bronzed with makeup, he stood gripping the pulpit as grim-faced military brass helped serve as a backdrop. For nine minutes, Trump stiffly stuck to words printed for him on the monitor, audibly sniffing and tilting his head.
The best news is that, right now, we are not headed into a new full-scale war.
This may be Trump's best pitch for reelection, alongside the economy.
For public-relations purposes, the U.S. killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3, and that of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in October, could give the president desired tough-guy props while he talks about peace.
So far the official story goes that the Tehran regime hit back for Soleimani's killing with missiles aimed at U.S. forces at military bases in Iraq that injured no one.
That's it — for the moment. On Wednesday, Trump got what he always wants: to "win" the 24-hour news cycle.
Even with Trump saying he sees Iran as "standing down," the road ahead is foggy.
Since the president doesn't make a habit of answering news-media questions in any solid and direct way, the potential queries left behind included:
Do our best military minds believe the missiles were aimed to harm our personnel?
What new attacks was Soleimani plotting when he died and how "imminent" were they?
What will further economic sanctions do that the previous ones did not?
Does U.S. intelligence indicate whether the Ukrainian airline crash in Tehran shortly after takeoff Wednesday — all 176 on board were killed — could have been part of this drama?
Naturally the speech included exaggerated partisan attacks on fellow Americans and self-promoting campaign talking points.
"The missiles fired last night at us and our allies were paid for by the funds made available by the last administration," he said.
Trump thus complained anew about the "foolish" 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, and said "they were given $150 billion, not to mention $1.8 billion in cash."
Trump never notes that the money in the nuclear deal represents Iranian assets that were unfrozen, which were used as leverage by the Obama administration in the negotiations.
"The American military has been completely rebuilt under my administration," Trump said, exaggerating the impact of added taxpayer spending on the military.
The president has been under fire for starting the latest hostilities by working to kill the pact. So he said Wednesday: "We must all work together toward making a deal with Iran that makes the world a safer and more peaceful place."
Trump took the occasion to lay claim to "historic accomplishments" of the past three years.
After a congressional briefing on the situation, some weren't convinced that all was well.
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) called the administration presentation “sophomoric and utterly unconvincing,” adding that he remained “unpersuaded” that the strike on Soleimani was justified.
Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
