Trump is a puzzle, but he’s standing firm on Iran and the Saudis

As a man who has always prided himself on his unpredictability, President Donald Trump has achieved at least one goal in the Middle East of late. Few, if any, among his supporters or detractors (and perhaps not even the president himself) know exactly what he’s going to do next. As he zig-zags his way through the ongoing war with Iran while navigating the sometimes fractious relations with America’s main allies in the region—Israel and Saudi Arabia—he is, if nothing else, keeping friends and foes guessing.

But while it’s difficult to be sure where this is all heading, even his critics should concede that, for all of his erratic public statements and course shifts over the past few months, for the time being, Trump isn’t taking the expedient or even popular path with respect to the war. For the moment, he’s actually doing the right thing.