There was a time when the question was how a president would respond to an urgent 3 AM call. But in these #notnormal days we have to worry how the world will respond to a 3 AM presidential tweet. Donald J. Trump, who surprisingly has not added “President” to his Twitter name, was at it again early this morning. Often these tweets are ridiculous whines that laughable. But, given the stakes, there was nothing laughable about the latest trio blasting Iran. He actually started out at dinner time, but then tweeted twice just after 3:30 AM.
Both Trump and Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke, the former commander of famed Navy SEAL Team Six that Trump wants as secretary of Interior, have made this claim before, arguing that President Obama’s military actions against the extremists of ISIS in concert with the Iraqi government and some Iran-backed Shiite militias are giving Iran ever more influence.
Between the lines of these early morning tweets can be seen Trump’s real wishes: finding reasons to get out of Iran nuclear agreement, which is widely hated in Congress. On that score, he will almost certainly have some Democratic support. The ballistic missile test could make it easier for the Trump regime to persuade fence-sitters that sanctions should be reimposed because Iran has violated U.N. resolutions prohibiting it from testing ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Iran has said that since the agreement forbids it from building nuclear weapons, the missiles could not actually carry any.
National Security Adviser Michael Flynn made a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room Wednesday saying that Iran has been put on notice for engaging in “destabilizing behavior across the Middle East” that “threaten U.S. friends and allies in the region.” He blamed President Obama for allowing Iran to become “emboldened. As of today, we are officially putting Iran on notice.”
Nothing specific was said about how the United States might respond. The Guardian reported that Secretary of Defense James Mattis softened Flynn’s language putting Iran on notice. Pentagon authorities contacted by the newspaper said there had been no change in the U.S. stance in the region nor additional deployments.