🇺🇸🇮🇷 Trump is betting he can starve Iran into a deal before the global economy starves first...
Here is the clearest picture yet of Trump's endgame strategy.
Squeeze Iran's economy through the blockade until Tehran comes back to Islamabad with concessions.
Simple in theory. The problem is timing.
Trump told Dutch royals over scallops and Diet Coke that the pressure must increase.
The Dutch told him Europe won't help until the fighting stops.
He promised a list of countries joining the blockade.
Days later, no list.
The Navy says it can sustain the blockade indefinitely.
The Pentagon privately worries it's straining the fleet and weakening the Pacific presence, exactly the vulnerability China has been watching for since February.
Vance is on standby to fly back to Pakistan if there's an opening.
The core tension: Trump's advisers think Iran's economy was already broken before the blockade and will crack soon.
Officials with Middle East experience think this regime will endure economic ruin before surrendering its nuclear program.
Both can't be right.
Source: WSJ