State Department pushes 'peace' narrative as Trump threatens Iran
In a packed room at the first State Department press briefing since Israel launched air strikes on Iran on Friday, spokesperson Tammy Bruce dodged far more questions than she answered, referring reporters to the Trump administration's central messaging depot: the White House.
More specifically, Donald Trump's Truth Social account. That account, since Monday, has only conveyed threats to Iran.
First, Trump told Tehran's 14 million residents to evacuate the capital, causing waves of panic and traffic jams across the city. Then he suggested he could kill Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But he won't, for the time being, he said. And as night fell on Iran after the fifth day of Israeli air strikes, he demanded "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER" from the Islamic Republic.
The US president made the posts while attending the first day of the G7 Summit in Canada. He then abruptly left 24 hours earlier than his schedule was due to wrap up, even skipping a scheduled meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
He was heading back to the White House for something “much bigger” than a ceasefire deal between Iran and Israel, he told reporters on Monday night.
The Israeli press had earlier suggested that the Americans would now join the war in some form or another.
The New York Times reported that only the US has the 30,000-pound bomb capable of taking out Iran's Fordow nuclear site.
It seemed clear that the president who ran two successful campaigns on ending America's "endless wars" was about to enter a new one, and yet again in the Middle East.
But the US State Department begged to differ.
"Due to the wisdom of the American people, President Trump's election to a second term has offered the world a chance to see an American leader committed to solving many of the world's existential threats with determination," Bruce told reporters on Tuesday.
"All he wants is a peaceful world. His activity, and the activity and the nature of the actions that the United States has taken... [has] been rooted in one thing, which is negotiations, looking for diplomatic solutions to generational problems that he wants solved diplomatically. That has been his constant posture."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also currently serves as Trump's national security adviser, "has travelled the world working to implement President Trump's vision of peace and security," she added.
The Trump administration's narrative comes across as mixed messaging. On the one hand, the department that oversees the implementation of foreign policy is boasting about a president of "peace", while the president is independently posting threats online to use the full might of the US military against Iran.
But Trump administration officials have repeatedly made it clear that the president will conduct US policy with a "peace through strength" approach, suggesting he will, in fact, make military preparations and take his rhetoric to the limit until he gets a result he will accept.
This particular behaviour also feeds into Trump's theatricality as a longtime reality TV star and darling of the New York tabloids. He has been known to push his opponents right to the edge and make his audience wait with desperate anticipation for his next move.
Surprisingly, Trump has been amenable to walking his positions back, but the president has still kept the world in the dark about which position he will ultimately take on Iran.