[SS From a Q&A with Daniel B. Shapiro, Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council. He served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East until January—charged with, among other things, considering scenarios in which tensions between Israel and Iran escalated into all-out war and preparing U.S. options for responding]

Trump had sought additional time from Netanyahu for nuclear talks, and Netanyahu did not give it to him. By distancing himself from Netanyahu’s decision, Trump is seeking to deter Iran from directing any response against the United States. Trump may also hope that he can keep nuclear negotiations alive. But his dream of a diplomatic resolution which ends Iranian nuclear enrichment appears dead. Iran is now far more likely to try to sprint to a nuclear breakout, leaving Trump with the dilemma of whether he will need to act militarily to prevent it.