The Memo: Trump looks for the off-ramp on Iran

President Trump seemed to begin a de-escalation of the war on Iran on Monday, sparking a relief rally in financial markets and sending the price of oil tumbling. 

But Trump did not dispel confusion over exactly what’s going on, nor did he erase deeper doubts about what comes next.

It seems clear that Trump is looking for an off-ramp from a war that has proven unpopular at home and has rattled the global economy, even though it is not yet a month old.

The president’s critics will say he is backing down from an ill-conceived and poorly defined conflict. His supporters will contend he is sticking to his promise of keeping military operations brief and that he has significantly degraded Iran’s capabilities. And the leadership of the Islamic Republic will claim a moral victory if it can merely survive the joint U.S.-Israeli assault — an outcome that appears increasingly likely.

The key moment on Monday came from Trump, on social media.

Shortly before 7:30 a.m. EDT, he posted that the U.S. and Iran, during the previous two days, “have had … very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East.”

Trump further explained that the nature of those discussions meant that he had decided to postpone any strikes against Iran’s power plants and energy infrastructure “for a five day period, subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions.”

The post amounted to a revocation of Trump’s earlier ultimatum, delivered Saturday evening, that Iran would have to “fully open” the Strait of Hormuz within the following 48 hours, otherwise the U.S. would “obliterate their various power plants, starting with the biggest one first!”

Under normal circumstances,........

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