The Washington Roundtable discusses Donald Trump’s address on the Iran war and the playbook that has defined his career in business and politics when confronted with a crisis: escalate and blame others. The panel discusses how that same playbook is being applied to the Iran conflict with potentially disastrous results. “He’s immune to any possibility of accountability,” the staff writer Evan Osnos says. “That became not just one of the ways he tells his own story but actually how he imagines history will unfold in his hands.”

This week’s reading:

“Donald Trump’s Case for War Fails to Mention How to Win It,” by Susan B. Glasser
“The Team Behind a Pro-Iran, Lego-Themed Viral-Video Campaign,” by Kyle Chayka
“He Helped Stop Iran from Getting the Bomb,” by David D. Kirkpatrick
“How Pakistan Became a Major Player in Peace Negotiations Between the U.S. and Iran,” by Isaac Chotiner
“The Spectacle of War and the Struggle to Protest,” by Jay Caspian Kang

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The Art of No Deal: Trump’s Approach to the Iran War

The Political Scene | The New Yorker