WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has played this hand before during the 5-month-old Iran war. It ends with him edging away with a last-minute declaration, sometimes at the behest of Gulf allies, that he’s going to give diplomacy more time. And they didn’t want us to do it,” Trump said of Iran as he spoke to reporters on his way back to Washington from a weekend at his New Jersey golf club. Critics see Trump reaching for a reset button in this patternTrump may still come to the conclusion that a massive escalation in the conflict with Iran is necessary. — After days of dire threats against Iran, Trump announced on May 18 he was holding off on a major planned military strike because “serious negotiations” were underway, crediting Gulf allies for persuading him to show restraint.