Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday defended strikes on Iran’s infrastructure since the U.S. and Israel began their joint war against the country in February, saying “sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate.”
His comments came just hours after President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that he was giving Iranian leadership 48 hours to open the Strait of Hormuz or risk U.S. military strikes that “will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!”
Bessent defended Trump’s rhetoric, saying it’s “the only language the Iranians understand.”
You were calling them mad in the context of geopolitical strategic thought i.e. madman theory, and that’s just not true.
If you need evidence that they are thoughtful and measured, then just look at this war and how it’s playing out.
And if you need more evidence, please read all of the reporting regarding the latest rounds of negotiations that Trump sabotaged.
Those are not the actions of mad men.