President Donald Trump stands in the Blue Room . Photos by AFP
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Donald Trump claimed "total" victory after a ceasefire with Iran. But critics say the deal is a fresh example of their maxim that the tough-talking US president always "chickens out."
In the space of 12 nerve-wracking hours, Trump went from warning that a "whole civilisation will die" to hailing that agreement as a big day for world peace.
The reality on the ground however showed a still shaky two-week ceasefire with a host of unanswered questions — not least about whether Trump had ever intended to follow through on his apocalyptic threats.
"President Trump is proving to be an increasingly unpredictable force and unreliable ally," Peter Loge, director of George Washington University's School of Media, told AFP.
The former businessman and author of "Art of the Deal" has a long favored a negotiating style that relies on maximum leverage in order to extract more from whoever is on the other side of the table.
Trump insisted his approach, which included a vow to bomb Iran back to the "stone age" by targeting civilian energy plants and bridges, had served its purpose.
"Total and complete victory," the president told AFP in a brief telephone interview after Monday's announcement. "100 percent. No question about it."
The White House also insisted that everything had gone according to plan, saying that Trump had always planned for Operation Epic Fury to last between four and six weeks.
"The success of our military created maximum leverage, allowing President Trump and the team to engage in tough negotiations," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters
But critics say that Trump has employed the same tactic on everything from tariffs to wars to his threats to annex Greenland, especially as markets start to react unfavorably.
The phenomenon now has its own acronym, which originally began with traders: TACO, or "Trump Always Chickens Out."
Loge — who predicted on Tuesday morning that Trump would take a self-declared win on Iran then give "give them two more weeks" — added: "The only consistent thing President Trump does is declare victory."
The time period of two weeks is also familiar to Trump-watchers who have seen him evoke the interval in a series of previous crises.
Critics led by rival Democrats lashed out at the Republican president, who has flexed his executive muscle in the face of a largely pliant and currently absent Congress.
"Trump is a military moron," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said as he announced the Senate would vote next week on a war powers resolution.
Trump's opponents say the war has left Iran effectively in control of the Strait of Hormuz, with a stranglehold over world energy prices. There's also little evidence he has done more to prevent Iran getting a nuclear bomb, given that the Iranians still possess their store of highly enriched uranium.
And Trump's Republicans are nervous that the Middle East war will hit them in November's midterm elections for control of Congress, given that American families are already finding it harder to pay the bills.
"All of this happens when one man...has unchecked power to wage war," added Schumer.
The criticism grew as the ceasefire appeared to be increasingly fragile, with Iran threatening to torpedo it if Israel did not stop attacks on Lebanon.
"Trump, 'the peace President', should have never started this war alongside Israel, who clearly doesn’t want peace," former ally and congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said on Thursday.
Nevertheless, Trump loyalists praised the deal.
"It looks like Trump ultimately hits the home run here, takes it to the brink. Iran blinks," said Fox News host and ally Laura Ingraham on her show after the announcement of the deal.
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