Donald Trump has no idea how to end the war with Iran, according to a defense and security expert urging the world to take note.
Christopher Bucktin says the president has delivered a speech that highlighted the United States' failures in Iran, and that backing out is effectively the only option Trump's administration has. Whether that moment comes, The Mirror's US editor argues, is yet to be seen.
He wrote, "If you were waiting for clarity last night, you got confusion. If you were waiting for honesty, you got lies. And if you were waiting for leadership, you got something closer to a greatest-hits compilation of his favourite talking points - none of them remotely resembling the truth.
"The most extraordinary part? He didn’t have to do this. Trump had an opportunity just hours earlier to end the Iran war or at least to claim he had. He could have stepped up, declared victory, and walked away.
"Given his talent for rewriting reality, plenty would have believed him. The killing could have paused. Markets might have steadied. Even his own fracturing MAGA base might have rallied behind the illusion of success. Instead, he chose the opposite."
What Trump does next will worry the world, Bucktin believes, as the president must now figure out a way of leaving the Iran war behind. But the president's speech noted both conclusive success and an ongoing war, with Bucktin arguing this blur does not sit well with the public or the world.
Bucktin wrote, "Iran has not folded. It has adapted, and in doing so, it has outplayed a man who thought force alone would be enough. By tightening its grip on the Strait, it has strengthened its position while Trump weakens his.
"At one moment, he says the job is done. Next, he threatens escalation. One moment, no regime change. The next, hints the regime may not survive. It is incoherent.
"The truth is brutally simple. Trump started a war he did not understand, against an opponent he underestimated, with no serious plan for what came next. He had a chance to step back and pretend it was over. Instead, he stepped forward and showed the world he hasn’t got a clue how to end it."