Dear President Trump:

I'm sure you were disappointed to learn on Monday that Iran's rulers have decided they're not interested in negotiating an extension of the ceasefire you granted on April 8. That ceasefire was in exchange for their promise to let commercial vessels freely transit the Strait of Hormuz – a promise they almost immediately broke.

The reason Iran's rulers gave: Israel is striking Hezbollah in Lebanon in response to hundreds of Hezbollah missile and drone attacks on communities in northern Israel. You attempted to broker another ceasefire but, hours later, Hezbollah launched another massive barrage.

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President Trump fancies himself a peacemaker, and the record supports him. His first-term Abraham Accords normalized relations between Israel and three Arab states: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco.

Since his return to the White House, however, diplomatic solutions have proved elusive. Most obviously, Vladimir Putin remains determined to conquer Ukraine, continues to target civilians, and has rejected every proposal for a lasting ceasefire.

President Trump has brokered several fragile truces – e.g., India–Pakistan, Armenia–Azerbaijan, Rwanda–DRC, Egypt–Ethiopia. But the causes and animosities underlying these conflicts remain unsettled.

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How successful was last week's summit in Beijing? President Trump said it was a "great success." Xi Jinping, China's supreme ruler, merely called the meeting "constructive."

Perhaps Mr. Xi thought: "Trump is cunning and unpredictable, so I'd better keep our relations on an even keel while he's in office."

But it's also possible he thought: "I know how to play Trump. Vladimir Putin is also paying me a visit in a few days. I'll tell him, Kim Jong Un, and those now calling the shots in Tehran what they need to do next."

If you watched the summit on television, you saw the pageantry: a military honor guard, flag-waving children, and an elaborate red-carpet ceremony.

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My fellow Americans, I don't often sit down here in the Oval Office behind the Resolute Desk to give speeches. I prefer to talk to you more off-the-cuff. But I'm making an exception today because I want you to understand exactly what I'm thinking and what I plan to do about the America-haters in Tehran.

We've already achieved a lot — more than any other president over the nearly half century since Iran was taken over by lunatics calling themselves "Islamic revolutionaries."

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During a Senate hearing last week, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth why she is so vehemently opposed to the use of military force to address the threat posed by Tehran: "We did not have any evidence that Iran intended to imminently attack this country in any way, shape, or form!"

How odd of her not to reckon with the fact that by the time we had such evidence, it might well have been too late to do anything about it. Or maybe no evidence would come to light, and the attack would emerge from a clear blue sky – as happened, literally, on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

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