Ex-Obama defense chief: Trump likes to ‘blow up’ agreements but doesn’t have a strategy

Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta expressed his concern that President Trump lacks a strategy on Iran in the wake of the president’s announcement on Friday he would not re-certify the multilateral Iran nuclear deal. 

“It really raises questions about our going it alone in the world, and not working with our allies, and working with others to try to make sure that we try to get Iran to address these other concerns. I just think it creates a dangerous example of a president who is anxious to blow up agreements, but doesn’t quite have a strategy as to where we’re going once he does that,” Panetta told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on “The Situation Room.” 

{mosads}Panetta’s criticism comes hours after Trump announced that the Iran nuclear was not in the U.S.’s national security interests. 

“I am announcing today that we cannot and will not make this certification,” Trump said during a speech at the White House.

“We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror and the very real threat of Iran’s nuclear breakout,” he continued.

Despite announcing his refusal to certify the deal, the president stopped short of withdrawing the U.S. from the agreement. 

The president also did not ask Congress to impose additional sanctions on Iran, which would have likely resulted in a U.S. departure from the deal. 

Trump instead requested that Congress pass new goals Iran would have to achieve in order to avoid getting hit with nuclear-related sanctions in the future.