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1. This is a crucial point about not just Iran but broader American foreign policy: Trump & his advisors keep saying very different things, sending out mixed messages that greatly increase the risk of war.
2. The same pattern appears again & again with Trump presenting himself as a deal-maker eager to talk while his national security team (Bolton & Pompeo) pursue aggressive moves to undermine talks: North Korea, Russia, Iran.
3. With Iran, there's evidence that Trump has been trying to set up a backchannel to the Iranian government & perhaps used Japanese PM Abe as a backchannel. But Bolton undermined by announcing new sanctions.
4. If this was a co-ordinated good-cop/bad-cop routine it would make sense but it's something worse than that: an administration that is sending incoherent messages to rivals, which is likely to increase paranoia & tensions, possibly sparking a war.
5. I write more about the dangers of Trump administration's incoherent foreign policy here: thenation.com/article/trump-…
