“The moment is extremely dangerous,” said Elliott Abrams, a longtime Middle East hawk who worked for Trump in his first term. “And the Trump administration is showing uncertainty and incompetence.” According to insiders, writes Politico, “Trump is further damaging America’s reputation by constantly vacillating about what to do in Iran and by fraying U.S. alliances with countries that could help.” As one said, “I don’t see a way out of this,” arguing that Trump “fundamentally misunderstands” Iran’s rulers. But according to Politico, “Iran’s breaking point may be more difficult to calculate than many in this group think.