President Trump is not usually known for restraint, but his brief speech to the nation Wednesday morning showed tough-minded restraint of just the right sort. The language was sober without being the slightest bit weak, and the substance he announced was firm but measured.
No matter what people think of Trump personally, the path he outlined merits support, and his usual critics should respect the presidency enough to make clear to the world that, for now, the United States speaks with one voice.
By announcing a further tightening of the sanctions that are already crippling Iran’s economy, Trump shows that the U.S. will not meekly accept even a largely failed missile attack on its military bases — and he does it without further violence.
By leading with the assertion that the U.S. will never allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons, and by returning to it several times, the president made clear the main imperative that has driven, and must drive, American grand strategy toward Iran. Yet, by refraining from any immediate military action, Trump provided room for Iran to de-escalate and accept his closing offer of peace.
It’s unlikely that Iran will finally act fully peaceably in the way we want, but Trump at least gives them room to ratchet down its worst impulses. They know as well as anyone that our might and resources are so much greater than theirs that we pose an existential threat to them.
These are the sorts of words a president should use, and this is how a president should act. Of course, elected leaders have every right to debate his strategy and tactics going forward. But they should do so in the same measured tones Trump used Wednesday — in a way that supports the presidency itself, vis-à-vis foreign powers — rather than in inflammatory language that erodes American diplomacy.
