While I'm a big fan of President Trump, I find his widely differing approaches to Venezuela and Iran mystifying. In the former, the approach has been sensitive and subtle. The surgical extraction and arrest on serious drug charges of President Nicolas Maduro, when added to the ushering into power of Deputy Delcy Rodriguez, was a neighbourly invitation for Venezuela to brush up its act. The fact that POTUS didn't sweep aside the whole Maduro regime and install Nobel laureate Maria Machado is remarkable. Even given that Machado made a highly-publicised visit to Pennsylvania Ave and handed the Nobel citation to Trump, he simply didn't take the bait. Over to Tehran, the approach has been carrier groups and armed threats, even though a Machado-like figure in the person of the Crown Prince is on-hand, willing and able to be the catalyst for the Ayatollah's departure. Certainly the end-times gotterdammerung philosophies of Shia Islam, may have convinced President Trump that tougher talk is called for. Even given all of this, I still think an invitation to the Prince to visit the White House, would give encouragement to the Iranians set to be mown down if the current situation continues.
