Trump Grudgingly Recertifies the Nuclear Deal
Trump  agreed to re-certify that Iran is complying with the nuclear deal  but  he  did so very grudgingly:
 President Trump  agreed on Monday to certify again that Iran is complying with an international nuclear agreement that  he  has strongly criticized  but only after hours of arguing with  his  top national security advisers  briefly upending a planned announcement as a legal deadline loomed.
The danger here is that  Trumpâs instincts  are to trash the deal and to deny that Iran is in compliance despite the fact that Tehran has been complying with the agreement from the start. Eventually   those instincts  are likely to prevail over other concerns. That is not surprising given  his  repeated attacks on the JCPOA as the âworstâ deal ever made. It is still alarming that the U.S. might renege on its obligations and potentially blow up the deal for no reason. The article continues:
The decision on Monday was the second time  his  administration certified Iranâs compliance  and aides said  a frustrated Mr. Trump  had told  his  security team that  he  would not keep doing so indefinitely [bold mine-DL].
The danger isnât limited to  Trumpâs  bad judgment. There are many dead-ender Iran hawks that never wanted the nuclear deal and are still desperate to sabotage it. Because the administration will have to certify that the deal is in the national security interests of the U.S. every 90 days  those saboteurs will have numerous opportunities to lobby  Trump  to change  his  mind. The Iran deal is succeeding  but hard-liners here are so determined to wreck it that they donât care. Hostility to Iran is one of the few reliable constants in  Trump âs foreign policy  and the administration is making clear that  Trump  wants to increase tensions with Iran on every other front:
Administration officials announced the certification on Monday evening while emphasizing that they intended to toughen enforcement of the deal  apply new sanctions on Iran for its support of terrorism and other destabilizing activities  and negotiate with European partners to craft a broader strategy to increase pressure on Tehran. Aides said  Mr. Trump  had insisted on such actions before agreeing to the consensus recommendation of  his  national security team.
That means that most of the other possible benefits that the deal could have produced in the form of reduced regional tensions and diplomatic channels with Tehran will be thrown away for the sake of fruitless antagonism and confrontation. This is by far the most dangerous aspect of  Trump âs foreign policy to date  but it is unfortunately the one where he will encounter the least resistance in Washington.
The report makes clear that the entire deal would be cast aside if  Trump  had  his  way.  His  advisers spent the last meeting trying to get  Trump  to agree  and  he  refused for almost all of  it  until the very end:
At an hourlong meeting last Wednesday  all of the presidentâs major security advisers recommended  he  preserve the Iran deal for now. Among those who spoke out were Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson; Defense Secretary Jim Mattis; Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster  the national security adviser; and Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr.  the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff  according to an official who described internal discussions on the condition of anonymity. The official said  Mr. Trump  had spent 55 minutes of the meeting telling them  he  did not want to.
It could just be a matter of time before  Trump  scraps the deal.
[TGT] agreed to re-certify that Iran is complying with the nuclear deal  but   [TGT]   did so very grudgingly:
  [TGT] agreed on Monday to certify again that Iran is complying with an international nuclear agreement that   [TGT]   has strongly criticized  but only after hours of arguing with   [TGT]   top national security advisers  briefly upending a planned announcement as a legal deadline loomed.
The danger here is that  Trumpâs instincts  are to trash the deal and to deny that Iran is in compliance despite the fact that Tehran has been complying with the agreement from the start. Eventually   those instincts  are likely to prevail over other concerns. That is not surprising given  his  repeated attacks on the JCPOA as the âworstâ deal ever made. It is still alarming that the U.S. might renege on its obligations and potentially blow up the deal for no reason. The article continues:
The decision on Monday was the second time  his  administration certified Iranâs compliance  and aides said   [TGT] had told   [TGT]   security team that   [TGT]   would not keep doing so indefinitely [bold mine-DL].
The danger isnât limited to  Trumpâs  bad judgment. There are many dead-ender Iran hawks that never wanted the nuclear deal and are still desperate to sabotage it. Because the administration will have to certify that the deal is in the national security interests of the U.S. every 90 days  those saboteurs will have numerous opportunities to lobby   [TGT]   to change   [TGT]   mind. The Iran deal is succeeding  but hard-liners here are so determined to wreck it that they donât care. Hostility to Iran is one of the few reliable constants in   [TGT]  âs foreign policy  and the administration is making clear that   [TGT] wants to increase tensions with Iran on every other front:
Administration officials announced the certification on Monday evening while emphasizing that they intended to toughen enforcement of the deal  apply new sanctions on Iran for its support of terrorism and other destabilizing activities  and negotiate with European partners to craft a broader strategy to increase pressure on Tehran. Aides said   [TGT] had insisted on such actions before agreeing to the consensus recommendation of   [TGT]   national security team.
That means that most of the other possible benefits that the deal could have produced in the form of reduced regional tensions and diplomatic channels with Tehran will be thrown away for the sake of fruitless antagonism and confrontation. This is by far the most dangerous aspect of   [TGT]  âs foreign policy to date  but it is unfortunately the one where he will encounter the least resistance in Washington.
The report makes clear that the entire deal would be cast aside if   [TGT] had   [TGT]   way.   [TGT]   advisers spent the last meeting trying to get   [TGT] to agree  and   [TGT]   refused for almost all of  it  until the very end:
At an hourlong meeting last Wednesday  all of the presidentâs major security advisers recommended  he  preserve the Iran deal for now. Among those who spoke out were Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson; Defense Secretary Jim Mattis; Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster  the national security adviser; and Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr.  the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff  according to an official who described internal discussions on the condition of anonymity. The official said   [TGT] had spent 55 minutes of the meeting telling them   [TGT]   did not want to.
It could just be a matter of time before   [TGT]   scraps the deal.