These are not the actions of a president who feels he is operating from a position of strength, however tough his rhetoric. These are the actions of a president who is attempting to surrender with dignity to the Iranians, the better to move on to other issues. But while the Iranians might accept a surrender in the Strait of Hormuz, they will not grant Trump his dignity. Iran’s leaders might ultimately be wrong that Trump won’t escalate, but such a belief would not be irrational. When those conversations turned out, two weeks later, to be less productive than Trump seemed to have hoped, the president wrote that “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran.