An almost presidential address

Today was a pivotal moment in history: how would Trump respond to the previous day's ballistic missile strike by Iran? In an address to the nation, clearly warranted given the gravity of the situation Trump had largely created through the assassination of Qasem Suleimani, his challenge was two-fold; how to appear presidential and speak for the nation and what to do given the current situation. He managed, surprisingly, to steer a better course than expected on policy, but managed to not quite hit the mark on tone.

On policy, he stepped back from the brink and elected not to respond militarily to Iran's strike. That is to be applauded. Whether his fear of foreign entanglements in the run up to the next election or his military advisers were responsible for this decision is as yet unclear but the outcome is nonetheless welcome. The decision to de-escalate and not respond militarily is a momentous change in direction.
The path forward he set out is astonishingly multilateral, involving the original signatories to the JCPOA and NATO, an organization whose relevance he has repeatedly questioned. He appeared to be opening the door to negotiations, though given the gravity of the last few days it will be some time before Iran will be able to enter into dialog; Iran's domestic audience would not countenance a rapid resumption of talks. 

On tone, he clearly struggled but on balance managed to come across as "mostly presidential". He stuck to the carefully worded script and no off the cuff additions. His tone of voice was appropriately somber. He didn't mention his Congressional adversaries or impeachment. He couldn't, however, resist taking a jab at his predecessor, and repeated the lie that Obama had "given" Iran billions of dollars.

Moving forward, the promised sanctions afford a degree to flexibility in severity that a military response would have precluded.  The GOP will claim victory (with the killing of Suleimani) and Iran will too (with a militarily un-answered the missile strike), and the world will have narrowly avoided another calamitous war. Everyone can now exhale.