by
Win
McNamee/Getty
Images)
Many
people
think
that
Donald
Trump’s
threats
and
bluster
are
all
a
negotiating
strategy. Threaten
to
destroy
a
country’s
civilization;
the
country’s
leaders’
knees
will
tremble;
the
country
will
surrender.
I’m
not
sure
that
works
so
well
in
a
country
where
the
government
doesn’t
care
about
the
people
and
where
the
leaders
believe
that
dying
in
the
name
of
the
cause
is
the
path
to
martyrdom. But,
effective
or
not,
perhaps
Trump
is
employing
a
strategy.
Recently,
it
struck
me
that
the
Iranians
might
be
employing
a
negotiating
strategy
in
their
approach
to
Trump.
Years
ago,
a
billionaire
told
me
his
strategy
when
he
was
negotiating
to
buy
a
person’s
family-owned
business:
“Offer
the
seller
a
fortune;
let
’em
taste
it. Let
the
seller
fantasize
about
the
fancy
new
home
and
car,
the
yacht,
and
the
private
island. Let
that
sink
in
for
a
while. After
the
seller
has
his
heart
set
on
all
of
the
fancy
new
things
that
he’ll
own,
then
slowly
bring
down
the
price
you’ll
pay
for
his
company. The
new
home
is
irresistible;
the
person
simply
has
to
own
it;
and
the
person
will
accept
less
money
from
you
because
the
seller
now
desperately
needs
some
deal
—
even
a
somewhat
less
valuable
deal
—
to
satisfy
his
new
dreams.”
Let
the
seller
taste
a
transaction;
then,
tighten
the
screws.
Perhaps
the
Iranians
met
my
billionaire.
On
Friday,
the
Iranians
appeared
to
have
reopened
the
Strait
of
Hormuz
to
maritime
traffic.
Trump’s
a
hero! He
can
taste
it.
The
stock
market
goes
through
the
roof. The
price
of
oil
plummets. Trump
could
fantasize
about
other
prices
beginning
to
decrease
over
time. Trump
could
go
on
the
road
and
talk
about
affordability,
instead
of
fighting
about
whether
he’s
better
than
the
pope
on
foreign
policy.
Trump
could
taste
it.
In
fact,
you
know
he
could
taste
it: He
made 13
posts
in
an
hour on
Truth
Social
claiming
total
victory. He
won! Thank
God! It’s
over.
This
week,
however,
when
negotiations
recommence,
the
Iranians
might
tighten
the
screws. Maybe
Iran
will
insist
on
reparations
for
the
war.
Or
billions
of
dollars
in
sanctions
relief. Or
the
right
to
enrich
just
a
little
bit
of
uranium.
Or
the
right
to
impose
tolls
on
ships
that
pass
through
the
Strait
of
Hormuz. Or
the
right
to
give
money
or
weapons
to
Iranian
allies
in
the
Middle
East.
Trump
won’t
be
happy
with this.
The
war
was
over,
for
chrissakes. He
was
a
hero. He
could
taste
it.
It
tasted
swell.
Maybe
Trump
will
show
just
a
little
bit
more
flexibility
with
the
Iranians
because
he
could
savor
the
taste
of
peace
—
the
tart
of
the
deal.
Maybe
Trump
should
let
the
Iranians
keep
just
a
little
bit
of
enriched
uranium,
or
receive
just
a
little
bit
more
relief
from
sanctions,
or
maybe
the
U.S.
and
Iran
should
split
the
tolls
that
are
charged
for
passing
through
the
Strait.
After
all,
“unconditional
surrender”
or
“regime
change”
were
never
really
what
Trump
had
in
mind. Everyone
knows
he
was
just
kidding
about
those
things.
And
ending
the
war
would
be
great. Look
at
the
Dow. Look
at
the
price
of
a
barrel
of
oil.
Will
we
ever
know
that
this
was
the
Iranians’
strategy?
Of
course
not.
Perhaps
the
ceasefire
will
end,
and
the
war
will
resume.
Perhaps
the
ceasefire
will
technically
end,
the
U.S.
and
Iran
will
agree
on
a
few
issues,
and
there
will
be
no
more
shooting
while
the
parties
negotiate
the
rest.
Perhaps
(although
it
seems
unlikely)
the
parties
will
reach
a
deal
on
all
of
the
issues
in
the
next
couple
of
weeks.
But
we’ll
never
know
what
terms
the
U.S.
would
have
accepted
before
the
Iranians
made
their
most
recent
move: They
let
Trump
experience
what
ending
the
war
would
taste
like,
whetting
his
appetite,
and
causing
him
to
be
a
bit
more
flexible
in
what
he
demanded
in
negotiations.
Mark Herrmann spent
17
years
as
a
partner
at
a
leading
international
law
firm
and
later
oversaw
litigation,
compliance
and
employment
matters
at
a
large
international
company.
He
is
the
author
of The
Curmudgeon’s
Guide
to
Practicing
Law and Drug
and
Device
Product
Liability
Litigation
Strategy (affiliate
links).
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected].