With his sensational statements on Truth Social and serial phone chats with individual journalists, President Donald Trump has only added to the confusion surrounding his plans for Iran in recent days.
The US president has been commenting on the conflict almost in real time in seemingly off-the-cuff exchanges with reporters, including from AFP, who call his cell phone.
Twice in recent days the White House has had to correct statements the 79-year-old billionaire made in the calls.
On Sunday, Trump told broadcaster ABC that Vice President JD Vance would not be leading the US delegation for a second round of talks with Iran in Pakistan, a statement quickly pulled back by official sources.
On Monday, Trump told the New York Post that negotiators were en route to Islamabad. They were not. The vice president was still in Washington at midday Tuesday for “meetings.”
The multiple conversations with reporters undermine well-established norms that the president’s “time is precious” and that he “must always use secure communications,” said Robert Rowland, a professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas.
– ‘Exactly the opposite’ –
Back in 2009, newly inaugurated president Barack Obama had a standoff with the Secret Service over surrendering his beloved BlackBerry, which his handlers thought would make him too accessible and was a security risk, Rowland recalled.
Previous presidents tried to adopt a unifying tone in times of conflict, but “Trump is exactly the opposite. He makes everything extremely partisan,” the academic added.
The Republican lashed out at his political opponents yet again this week, calling Democrats “traitors” trying to undermine the military offensive in Iran, and attacking media outlets for their coverage of the conflict.
The Wall Street Journal revealed Monday that Trump neither consults nor notifies anyone before posting messages on Truth Social, where his posts cluttered with capital letters and exclamation points mix apocalyptic threats and casual, sometimes crude language.
The newspaper also reported that Trump’s inner circle kept him partially in the dark during the recent rescue of a US Air Force officer in Iran, for fear that his “impatience” might disrupt the high-stakes operation.
That impulsiveness also manifests itself in “violations” of diplomatic protocol and solemn military ceremonies, Rowland said.
– Vietnam –
In March, Trump triggered bipartisan ire by wearing a “USA” cap during the repatriation of soldiers killed in the Middle East. At the time, a similar cap white, with gold embroidered letters was for sale on The Trump Organization website for $55.
He also outraged many American Christians by sharing an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus, accompanied by a soldier in uniform and a fighter jet. Article was quickly taken down, a rare communication retraction by the Trump administration.
The Republican president, who was exempted from fighting in Vietnam for medical reasons, even claimed on CNBC on Tuesday that he would have won that war “very quickly,” had he been in power at the time.
His erratic messaging on Iran is further diluted by increasingly frequent digressions on his favorite topic: the construction and renovation of buildings.
During his CNBC interview, he launched into a detailed and animated critique of ongoing renovations at the headquarters of the Federal Reserve, whose current chair, Jerome Powell, he detests.
Then he returned to the construction project closest to his heart: a monumental new White House ballroom. “I build under budget, ahead of schedule,” the former real estate magnate boasted.
According to the Washington Post, the US president has mentioned his famous ballroom on average once every three days since the beginning of the year.
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