An American president who portrays himself as chosen by Jesus sends his son-in-law to negotiate with an Islamic theocracy—and then publicly denies that the negotiations his son-in-law says are continuing even exist. It sounds like an unfunny comedy routine. It is actually American foreign policy.
On Monday, during an interview with Fox News, Jared Kushner said communications between the U.S. government and different parts of Iran’s government were “probably more robust than it’s maybe ever been,” adding:“We are having very positive and active conversations.”
The next day, Trump flatly contradicted him on Truth Social: “There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Reuters
Iran—and any country negotiating with the United States—needs to know whether the president’s designated envoy actually speaks for the president.
It isn’t unusual for opposing sides in peace talks to issue contradictory accounts of how negotiations are going. That has happened between the United States and Iran. What is unusual is for a president and one of his own lead negotiators to contradict each other—publicly and within a day—about whether any talks or conversations are taking place at all.
The Iranian regime already deeply distrusts both the United States and its representatives. That makes it especially important for Trump’s negotiators to speak with unmistakable presidential authority. By publicly contradicting Kushner, Trump undercut that authority himself.
Now it has been announced that the talks have halted. A U.S. official said, “There have been positive discussions, but President Trump has decided to wait and asked his team not to engage until Iran is ready to make a deal.”
But how is Iran supposed to demonstrate that it is ready to make a deal if Trump has instructed his team not to engage? Rather than waiting for Iran to signal that it has met some unspecified standard of readiness, Trump might first make sure that he and his son-in-law are reading from the same page when they make pronouncements about the negotiations.
Addendum: Where is the secretary of state?
Meanwhile, Marco Rubio—the secretary of state nominally charged with conducting American diplomacy—has been conspicuously absent from the Iran negotiations. Instead, he is leading negotiations involving Venezuela and Cuba—countries we aren’t at war with. Raw Story
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