The host read a quote from a New York Times analysis by David Sanger.
"President Trump entered the new year facing flare-ups of long-burning crises with two old adversaries — Iran and North Korea — that are directly challenging his claim to have reasserted American power around the world," Sanger wrote.
The host also read a quote from a Washington Post analysis.
"Trump now faces a potentially combustible situation where the United States and Iran are elbowing for influence in Iraq as U.S. allies Israel and Saudi Arabia, along with some of Trump’s in-house advisers, urge a more forceful confrontation with Tehran over its aggressive tactics across the Middle East," the newspaper explained.
Wallace said the development stems from Trump's "political weakness" -- again reading a quote from Sanger.
"The timing of these new challenges is critical: Both the Iranians and the North Koreans seem to sense the vulnerability of a president under impeachment and facing re-election, even if they are often clumsy as they try to play those events to their advantage," Sanger explained.
For analysis, Wallace interviewed former Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes.
"Well, Nicole, I think the important thing here is that the origin of what we are seeing in Iraq is this confrontational approach he has taken to Iran over the last couple of years. Since pulling out of the Iran Nuclear Agreement, what we've seen is a steadying ratcheting-up of provocations from Iran," Rhodes explained.
"I want to stay with Iraq, Ben, and it's my observation that his policy toward Iran is the most schizophrenic of all of Trump's ill-thought-out -- but at least in the case of Russia, they're all consistently pro-Putin. In the case of North Korea he has a delusion that they're beloved penpals and that there is a peace deal when there isn't," Wallace noted. "In Iran, he seems truly schizophrenic."
"You're exactly right, Nicolle," Rhodes replied. "Because basically the logic of everything that Trump has actually done is confrontation with Iran, so he's imposed these new sanctions, he's pulled out of the nuclear deal, he alienated all of our allies. So we are all alone in this confrontation with Iran."
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