TACO Moments: All the Times Trump Backed Down From His Ultimatums With Iran

BarcelonaDonald Trump has starred in another TACO moment. This is how the US political and media jargon refers to the president's tendency to back down at the last minute: Trump Always Chikens Out. But, although there have been quite a few TACO moments, the one from this past dawn has been of epic proportions. On Tuesday, Trump had announced that a civilization could die that night if Iran did not immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He had even set a time: eight in the evening in the United States, two in the morning in Catalonia. But, just as he had launched the threat, Trump also backed down with a post and surprisingly announced a 15-day truce to negotiate with Tehran under the auspices of Pakistan.

Drawing on the manual of asymmetric warfare, Iran has managed to close the strait through which 20% of the world's gas and oil traffic passes, and the Pentagon does not have a clear military option to get out of a war that presents increasing economic and political costs for Trump. This has led to ultimatums falling one after another. This is a review of all of Trump's TACO moments in these six weeks of war, a strategy that has destroyed not only his personal credibility, but also that of the United States as a world power. Even for Donald Trump, known for his inflammatory statements outside of diplomatic rhetoric, the sequence of these latest threats points to an impulsive leader, accustomed to imposing himself with a mix of coercion and unpredictability, but who this time has not succeeded.

March 21: in a post on his social network, Trump warns that if Iran does not "COMPLETELY OPEN" the strait in 48 hours, the United States will "annihilate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE LARGEST".

• March 23: two days after the first threat, Trump assures that the United States has held "productive" talks with Iran and has ordered the Pentagon to postpone any attack against Iranian energy infrastructure for five days. Tehran publicly denies that any negotiations are underway.
• March 26: with markets down, Trump postpones the deadline again, this time by ten days, until Monday, assuring that he "pauses the period of destruction of energy plants" at the request of the Iranian government.
• March 30: Trump claims "great progress" has been made in negotiations to end the war. At the same time, he warns that if no agreement is reached and the strait is not opened "immediately," the United States will destroy all of Iran's power plants and oil wells, as well as Kharg Island, its main oil export platform, and "perhaps all" desalination plants. An open threat of war crime.
• April 1: Trump claims Iran has asked him for a ceasefire, a statement that the spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called "false and unfounded." In a social media message, the Republican says that the United States will only consider a ceasefire when the strait is "open, free, and unobstructed." And he adds: "Until then, we will reduce Iran to total disappearance or, as they say, to the Stone Age!!!!"
• April 4: two days before the new deadline, Trump reiterates that "time is running out, there are 48 hours left before hell breaks loose." The message comes after several contradictory statements in the preceding days, in which he had alternated criticism of allies for not reopening the strait on their own with the idea that the strait would reopen naturally.
• April 6: Trump reiterates in a press conference his threats against the Iranian regime if they do not reach an agreement with the United States: "The entire country can be eliminated in a single night, and that night could be tomorrow night".
• April 7: the president threatens via social media that he could attack Iran during the night: "An entire civilization will die tonight, and never return. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will." An hour and a half before the ultimatum, he announces a 15-day truce. Iran, however, makes it clear that it will continue to control the Strait of Hormuz.