President Trump walks from the Oval Office to board Marine One as he departs from the South Lawn of the White House on Thursday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)Tensions between the United States and Iran escalated this week as the Defense Department disclosed plans to counter Iranian threats to U.S. personnel in the region — and as the State Department recalled non-emergency personnel from Iraq. Here’s how presidents typically acquire information to make informed decisions — and why Trump breaks the mold. As one canonical study argues, a “president’s first essential need is information.”[Trump wants to wring a ‘better deal’ from Iran. Alleged differences within the Trump administration on Iran exhibit similar patterns.

Source: Washington Post May 18, 2019 09:56 UTC