Trump had previously suggested the United States could rapidly destroy Iran’s bridges, power plants, and other infrastructure—a campaign that military and legal experts warned could devastate civilian life in a nation of roughly 85 million people and risk violating international law.
The decision to walk back his threat underscored a familiar pattern in Trump’s presidency: issuing maximalist threats, only to recalibrate as the risks of carrying them out come into sharper focus. It also reflected the competing pressures bearing down on a White House that has spent weeks edging closer to a wider war while searching for a way out of it.
TIME previously reported that Trump has grown increasingly eager to find an off-ramp. Polling has shown declining public support for the war, while rising fuel prices and market volatility have alarmed Republican lawmakers ahead of the midterm elections. At the same time, the President has been reluctant to end the conflict without being able to claim a decisive victory.
Read the full article here
