Trump Isn’t Ready for a Worsening Crisis With Iran

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- On present trends, President Donald Trump's administration is headed for a crisis that it has no capacity to resolve.

On Thursday, after Iran shot down a U.S. drone under disputed circumstances, the U.S. planned a military strike. Jets were scrambled, ships were positioned, and much of Washington waited in grim expectation for the order to shoot. It never came. At the last minute Trump decided to cancel the mission.

Although Trump has thankfully avoided further escalation, this is not a good outcome. Iran suffers no consequences, and the president looks indecisive. Far from being deterred, Iran may well be emboldened. No one knows where the red lines are, what the U.S. is prepared to accept, or even what it hopes to achieve in this conflict.

The inability to devise and articulate goals is a critical flaw of Trump's presidency. It plagues every aspect of policy. Agencies operate with skeletal staffs, acting heads and no direction. Where Trump has taken an interest — on trade and immigration, for instance — his purposes are erratic and incoherent. But nowhere is this blustering confusion more hazardous than in his dealings with Iran and other rogue actors.

Without a clear policy, he has let his underlings pursue their own. Trump's hawkish advisers doubtless thought a strike would send a message and prevent further aggression. Pentagon officials opposed what they saw as a needless escalation. Faced with a yes-or-no decision, the president chose both.

When a real crisis materializes — in Iran or anywhere else — this administration will be hopelessly ill-prepared. Understaffed agencies will hesitate; brawling bureaucrats will press for contradictory policies. With no clear decision-maker, the chain of command will break down.

Avoiding a calamity over Iran would require Trump to end the infighting, specify what he hopes to achieve, and take responsibility. That shouldn't be too much to ask of the president of the United States. In this case, unfortunately, it might be. So Republicans in Congress must step forward where they can, pressing Trump to fill vacancies in the executive branch and install Senate-confirmed leaders in essential posts — including secretary of defense, a position that has been vacant, almost unbelievably, for six months.

But there’s no good remedy for a delinquent president. At the very least, Trump needs to remember where the buck stops, tweet less, think more, and make up his mind.

Editorials are written by the Bloomberg Opinion editorial board.

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