David Brooks: The World Is Telling The U.S. Your Days As A Superpower Are Over, Trump Should Get The Hell Out Of Iran | Video

GEOFF BENNETT, PBS NEWSHOUR: In the time that remains, let’s talk about Iran, because President Trump extended the cease-fire with Iran, but he also said he’s in no rush and wants to take his time. Is that measured patience or does it reflect the absence of a clear endgame?

DAVID BROOKS, THE ATLANTIC: Craziness.

I mean, I thought he wanted an off-ramp, and he doesn’t seem to be asking. He should be desperate for it. This is an issue that could destroy or severely damage the Trump administration the way Iran-Contra severely damaged the Reagan administration.

Second, this is weirdly turning into the Suez crisis. In 1956, the British — it wasn’t over the Straits of Hormuz. It was over the Suez Canal. They said, they’re going to — they’re trying to block the canal. We won’t let them.

And then Dwight Eisenhower and the U.S. said, too bad. Too bad. You’re a weak power. You thought you were a superpower. Those days are over. And a lot of people around the world are saying to America, you think you’re a superpower? You can’t even open the Straits of Hormuz? Your days as a superpower is over. So Donald Trump should be eager to get the hell out of this fight.

BENNETT: How do you see it, Jonathan?

JONATHAN CAPEHART, MS NOW: Similarly.

I mean, watching this whole thing, I have been confused from the moment the bombs started dropping on Iran, because I don’t know why specifically the president took this action. I don’t know what his game plan was, has been or will be.

It’s as if he’s trying to — he thinks of closing a diplomatic deal is the same as closing a business deal, that you can just do it overnight or one blustery performance and you get people to the table to agree to your terms. That’s not how this works.

I keep thinking about the Iran nuclear deal, the JCPOA. You had five nations involved in this, plus the European Union, I believe. And it took months and months of negotiation. Where’s the Wendy Sherman? Where’s Secretary Kerry? Where’s Ernest Moniz, the secretary of energy?

These were all people — plus the treasury secretary. These were all people who painstakingly negotiated the Iran nuclear deal. And, instead, what we have from the Trump administration is Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who happens to be, one, the president’s son-in-law, and, two, has major financial interests in the region.

How on earth does anyone expect for the Trump administration to come to a deal that will be lasting, in the interests of the United States and that will put a lid on the damage that’s being done in the Middle East right now?