President Donald Trump has taken the United States into war with Iran despite decades of self-professed aversion to foreign entanglements, particularly in the Middle East, and repeated pledges to focus primarily on the Western Hemisphere with an “America first” agenda. Trump’s decision to launch strikes with Israel on Iran’s leadership, military and critical infrastructure this weekend follows what his supporters maintain was months of patient yet unsuccessful attempts to negotiate a diplomatic solution over U.S. concerns about troubling Iranian behavior that posed unacceptable risks to U.S. and allied interests. Yet, even his closest advisers have been unable to point to any specific imminent threat to the U.S. from Iran that required urgent action.
