How does national security expert Cori Schake assess Iran's negotiating strategy with Trump?
Cori Schake, a former National Security Council official under President George W. Bush, argues that Iran has correctly read Donald Trump's vulnerabilities — his desperation for a deal, a US shortage of munitions, and the political pressure he faces ahead of the midterms — and is exploiting all three to extract maximalist concessions. In her view, Tehran is deliberately dragging out the process to maximize political damage to the president.
"It looks to me like the Iranian regime wants to turn President Trump into Jimmy Carter. It wants to impose the kind of humiliation on President Trump that they imposed on President Carter. And I think they're pretty much succeeding at that."
— Cori Schake, speaking to NPRSchake draws a direct historical parallel to the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis, when the Islamic Republic held American diplomats captive for 444 days and helped destroy Jimmy Carter's presidency. Her argument is that Tehran is now running the same playbook: prolong the standoff, make demands that can never be quickly accepted, and let the political clock do the damage. With the Strait of Hormuz still closed and Trump having counter-demanded that Iran pay reparations for 50 years of alleged damage to the United States — citing incidents including the USS Cole attack — there is no obvious off-ramp in sight.
The dynamic Schake describes is one in which Iran's leverage is structural rather than military. By correctly reading the US position — a president under domestic political pressure, an overstretched military supply chain, and a looming midterm calendar — Tehran can afford to stall. Every week the Strait of Hormuz remains closed is another week of economic and political pain for the White House. You can hear Schake's full analysis in context on Up First from NPR on Listenly.
Cori Schake
Senior Fellow & Former NSC Director · American Enterprise Institute
Cori Schake served as a Director on the National Security Council under President George W. Bush, where she worked on defense policy and strategic planning. She also held a senior role at the State Department and served as Deputy Director-General of Policy Planning at NATO. A widely cited voice in US foreign and defense policy, Schake is currently a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a contributing editor at The Atlantic. Her expertise spans civil-military relations, US grand strategy, and transatlantic security — which is what makes her comparison of the Trump-Iran standoff to the Carter hostage crisis particularly pointed: she has studied both periods in depth and does not use the analogy lightly.
See also
Trump told reporters that the United States Navy has control of the Strait of Hormuz, describing it as an "infallible blockade" and a "steel wall" through which nothing passes without US approval.
Talks have deteriorated rapidly after President Trump demanded Iran pay reparations for damage inflicted on the US over a 50-year period, citing events such as the USS Cole attack.
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