In five years as president, Donald Trump has established his own unique and changeable set of rules about when and how to use American military power. The current confrontation with Iran is proceeding based on some new guidelines, which may not sit well with many of his supporters. In the last four days, Trump has broken two of his own rules about foreign and defense policy, maintained two (so far), and ended a longtime American taboo.
First, Trump’s previous military actions complied with the “one and done” rule. This meant no “endless wars” and instead, very brief military actions that were over when they were announced: the killing of Iranian terrorist leader Qasem Soleimani in his first term, the Midnight Hammer attack on Iranian nuclear sites last year, and the capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro. Now, instead of another brief attack on nuclear sites or missile launchers, Trump has undertaken what could be a multi-week effort.
