Trump Pledge to Avoid War Tested by Iran Days After 2020 Launch
- President has long criticized U.S. military involvement abroad
- Most advisers favored Iran strike but Trump decided against it
Donald Trump, Mike Pompeo and John Bolton.
Photographer: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
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Two days after launching his 2020 re-election bid, President Donald Trump had to confront whether to risk breaking his pledge to avoid entangling the U.S. in new Middle East conflicts.
With his decision Thursday to scrap a planned military strike against Iran, the president stepped away from a move that would put the two nations on a path to a much wider confrontation.