Is Trump Using Psychological Pressure?

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00:00The world is really waiting to see if President Trump gives the green light to a U.S. military

00:05plan. He's been keeping everyone pretty much guessing, Michael. Is this part of psychological

00:11warfare or his belief it is the best way to do a deal?

00:18Well, I think that President Trump can speak to that better than anybody else. And he's made it

00:23quite clear he is not revealing his intentions. It does make some sense in terms of what he's called

00:30maximum pressure, that the Iranians cannot safely bet on the idea that the Americans won't join in

00:42the fighting. And basically, I think that Donald Trump would prefer to see a deal which he considers

00:52favourable, rather than him accepting the responsibility or ignominy involved in becoming

01:00a direct belligerent. But he wants to stoke up the pressure so that the Iranians are prepared to make

01:07the concessions, which for years they have resisted doing. And of course, this is a diplomatic,

01:15you know, high stakes game, because by using phrases like the, you know, calls for complete

01:24surrender, he may, of course, make it more difficult to get the very deal that he wants. So yes, I mean,

01:30that they, I'm sure that he has a, you know, that he has an eye to the, to the impact on the Iranian

01:36calculations every time that he makes these statements. But of course, he's also looking to

01:42his own, to his own, to his own public.