Trump Had No Clue What He Was Doing With His Disastrous Jerusalem Announcement 

As protests intensify against the White House’s decision to recognize Jerusalem the capital of Israel, a new report from the Washington Post suggests that President Donald Trump didn’t actually know what he was getting himself into. Shocker, I know.

From the Post:

While Trump appeared to have made up his mind, he continued to solicit input, two White House officials said, even asking random acquaintances about the Middle East in recent months.

Several advisers said he did not seem to have a full understanding of the issue and instead appeared to be focused on “seeming pro-Israel,” in the words of one, and “making a deal,” in the words of another.

Because if you’re going to make one of the most consequential U.S. foreign policy decisions in more than a decade—especially over the reported objections of your top military adviser and secretary of state—who better to mull it over with than “random acquaintances,” right?

The growing chorus of those who oppose Trump’s decision—including leaders across the Middle East, the Pope, and the largest denomination of American Jews—contend that the administration has effectively leapfrogged any negotiated agreement between Israelis and Palestinians, both of whom consider the city their capital, and has dangerously increased tensions in the region. What’s more, they argue, Trump’s move has exposed the United States as an irredeemably biased moderator in the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and legitimized what many see as an Israeli landgrab in lieu of a future peace accord between the two sides.

Or, to put it in terms the President might actually understand: It’s a pretty awful deal.