Trump’s strike talk didn’t deter Iran, it stripped Israel of cover, narrowed Netanyahu’s options, and handed Iran a win without a shot being fired. Right, so Donald Trump hasn’t restrained Benjamin Netanyahu on Iran as the two men meet once again - he’s actually overexposed him.. Netanyahu has always wanted to hit Iran. He did it in June. He has certainly suggested that he wants to go again. He’s never hidden that. What Trump’s just done is make that desire impossible to dress up as anything other than what it is, and that matters because once escalation is said out loud, managing the fallout gets a lot harder. This isn’t just about a few remarks in Florida. It’s about a pattern where American presidents, Trump especially, think loud threats equal deterrence, when all they really do is collapse the space other actors use to control timing and bla ...