Throughout Donald Trump’s political career, there have been those who have tried to explain or justify his decision-making as that of a master strategist.

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The president isn’t just two moves ahead, they claim, he’s already surveying his next opponent’s chessboard. But as his disastrous war with Iran spirals further out of control, does anyone still believe Trump has a single clue what he’s doing?

The conflict in the Middle East lays bare what has been obvious to many of us for years: that Trump, unlike any other politician, makes decisions based on instinct alone. He doesn’t consult his advisors, he doesn’t read his briefing documents, he doesn’t listen to counter-arguments, he only ever goes with his gut. At times, such impulsivity works wonders for him. The problem with wars, however, is that they require all the diligence and detail that Trump rejects.

From the start, the White House’s war aims have been all over the place. If it’s about destroying Iran’s nuclear programme, why did Trump claim last summer that it had been “completely and totally obliterated”? If it’s about overthrowing the Islamic Republic, why not launch a ground invasion? And if it’s about defending the right of ordinary Iranians to protest, why not intervene in January when anti-regime demonstrations were at their height, and before the mullahs murdered tens of thousands more of their own citizens?

Then there’s his approach to America’s allies. One moment, he’s complaining that Sir Keir Starmer is “no Winston Churchill” and saying he........

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