WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� When the U.S. and Iran reached a tentative to end , President managed to both trumpet the deal and raise questions about its viability, all in the same answer.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very strong deal,鈥� he said. 鈥淣obody . But it鈥檚 very strong.鈥�
It was the kind of mixed signal the president frequently sends: He鈥檒l seem to commit to one side of a major issue, then the opposite 鈥� only to subsequently suggest he鈥檚 and may not be wed one way or the other.
Just as Ronald Reagan was the 鈥淕reat Communicator鈥� and George W. Bush declared himself 鈥淭he Decider,鈥� Trump increasingly seems comfortable as the 鈥淕reat Equivocator,” oscillating between contradictions in what he says on one subject or multiple times in a single online post.
Taking so many positions means the president can鈥檛 be fully wrong while letting the public fix on different, albeit often conflicting, statements that can reinforce their own beliefs. It differs from Trump’s , which can be part of a for his own political benefit.
鈥淭rump is, generally, all over the map,鈥� said Daniel Immerwahr, a historian at Northwestern University and author of 鈥淗ow to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States.鈥� 鈥淗is friends forgive him, and his enemies hate it.鈥�
Those close to Trump say it’s strategic
White House spokesperson Kush Desai dismissed questions about the president’s shifting positions as an 鈥渁sinine obsession with splitting hairs.”
鈥淧resident Trump鈥檚 results speak for themselves,鈥� Desai said, noting the ceasefire agreement, a resulting decline in energy prices and administration efforts to lower among the “many other victories for the American people.鈥�
Aides from Trump’s first administration say the president likes to lean on the business concept of 鈥渙ptionality,鈥� or staying flexible enough to have always multiple choices available. That allows him to shift abruptly as the politics or his personal needs change.
Deepak Malhotra, a Harvard Business School professor and author of 鈥淣egotiating the Impossible,鈥� finds that implausible.
鈥淏usiness leaders and politicians have always sought to create option value whenever possible. But they wouldn鈥檛 go about it by taking incoherent, or mutually inconsistent, positions on major issues,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat erodes credibility.鈥�
Still, Trump’s style can make him a feared negotiator since no one knows his next move. It recalls President Richard Nixon’s 鈥渕adman鈥� theory of foreign relations, in which he sought to gain an upper hand by spreading uncertainty about his personal volatility.
Trump has mostly of the United States playing its traditional role as leader of a rules-based global order. That could damage the country’s international reputation, but it also gives Trump a freer hand, Immerwahr said.
Most presidents 鈥渁re interested in systemic power, the whole chessboard,” Immerwahr said. Trump, meanwhile, is 鈥渋nterested in what鈥檚 in front of his face.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 not just a pathology of his, that鈥檚 his worldview,鈥� Immerwahr said. “That is a strategy.鈥�
Trump is consistently inconsistent
While politicians typically try to avoid accusations of waffling, Trump has long been unafraid himself 鈥� refusing to be pinned down even when it or ahead of November鈥檚 .
On Iran, Trump indicated that were to remove Tehran’s stockpile of enriched uranium and eliminate its ability to fire ballistic missiles. More recently, however, he has suggested Iran should be able to keep both, citing the need for fairness among regional powers.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e not letting them have it for purposes of electricity and things like that,鈥� he said in June of the enriched uranium. “You have to use a little common sense.鈥�
Of Tehran’s missiles, the president now says, 鈥淭hey have to have some because other people have some.鈥�
Malhotra said Trump 鈥渉as become accustomed to people not holding him accountable for outcomes because he is typically able to change the subject or declare victory regardless.鈥�
鈥淲e are now witnessing what happens when someone like that realizes there are limits to how much you can spin reality,” he said. 鈥淵ou start to promise everything and nothing, and you get fixated on making excuses for yesterday rather than strategizing for tomorrow.鈥�
Desai countered that the ceasefire agreement amounted to 鈥渢he Art of the Deal in practice.鈥�
Trump also frequently offered about the war itself. He claimed repeatedly that it was even as fighting escalated. He downplayed the war as 鈥渁 little excursion鈥� and 鈥渘ot a big thing,鈥� while pointing to it as the reason he couldn鈥檛 do other things, like attend his son鈥檚 wedding in the Bahamas.
鈥淚 think there鈥檚 a point where he goes into default sales mode for whatever he鈥檚 trying to sell,鈥� said Thomas Wright, a former special assistant to President Joe Biden and senior director for strategic planning at his administration鈥檚 National Security Council. 鈥淎nd he鈥檒l say, with great conviction, points that will sometimes be in contradiction to each other.鈥�
It’s not just Iran
, Trump has said, is 鈥渞eady to fall鈥� without U.S. military intervention. while also suggesting that the quick-strike to remove Venezuelan could be a model for the island’s communist government.
鈥淪ometimes you have to use it,” Trump said of the military during a March investment forum. 鈥淎nd Cuba is 鈥媙ext, by the way.鈥� On Wednesday, in a North Dakota speech he was even more explicit saying of Cuba: 鈥淎fter many, many decades, it鈥檚 coming our way.鈥�
After spending years slamming Biden for rising inflation, Trump said recently, 鈥淚 ,鈥� as prices rose under his own watch during the Iran war.
Even when it comes to seeking a third presidential term, Trump has toggled between teasing another run and hinting that he’s only joking 鈥� .
Reagan, known for his keen storytelling and ability to project warmth, got his moniker from a background in radio and movie and television acting. Bush declared himself the ultimate arbiter at a low moment of the Iraq War when asked about firing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Trump doesn’t struggle to communicate. As a developer in 1980s New York, the future president was so obsessed with managing his image that he used fake names to call reporters and pose as his own spokesperson.
Now, he talks constantly to the media and is the unquestioned decision maker at the White House, where aides often have to scramble to make their own past and present statements coincide with the boss’ latest about-face.
Trump nonetheless talks in circles as a matter of course.
鈥淲e like everybody really in the room. I don鈥檛 like a few people, but that’s OK,鈥� the president said recently following an occasionally heated lunch with Senate Republicans.
Trump’s approach carries risk even for allies
Daniel Ames, a professor at Columbia Business School whose research focuses on social judgment and behavior, said Trump may be driven by showmanship.
鈥淲e could look at President Trump鈥檚 behavior through the lens of content production and managing for viewership,鈥� Ames said. 鈥淐onstant twists and cliffhangers may seem like attractive levers for engagement, leaving viewers wondering and having to tune back in to find out 鈥榃hat will I do?鈥欌��
But Wright, now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said Trump鈥檚 ever-changing sentiments also mean he can fully support something, then shift his position without warning 鈥� leaving even close allies squeezed. For instance, Israeli Prime Minister has been by the Iran war’s major objectives going unfulfilled.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a little bit like riding the tiger,鈥� Wright said. 鈥淵ou might sometimes get him to move in your direction. But, when all is said and done, one might wonder if it was better just to leave the tiger alone.鈥�
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Will Weissert has covered the White House for The Associated Press since 2022, after covering politics, the drug war and immigration in Texas, Cuba, Mexico and Guatemala since 2000.
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