Trump calms markets to fight longer and always uses the military assets he deploys as more combat power heads to Iran, Mideast expert says

President Donald Trump has alternated between threats to obliterate Iran’s economy and claims that the U.S. is in talks with the regime, giving investors whiplash as Wall Street tries to figure out how much longer the war will take.

Meanwhile, Trump is sending more troops and warships to the Middle East as Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz remains firmly in place.

For Firas Maksad, managing director for the Middle East and North Africa practice at Eurasia Group, that sets up an inflection point for Trump by mid-April, when all that additional combat power will be in place. By then, Trump’s latest timeline for the war lasting two to three more weeks will converge with his stated option to “take the oil in Iran.”

“The president is going to have to make a decision whether he wants to go all in or whether he wants to take an offramp,” Maksad told CNBC on Thursday. “And I think the domestic standing here in the U.S., the energy impact, but also Iran’s residual military capabilities are going to be key factors.”

Indeed, despite the U.S. and Israel decimat...