Witness says region 'upset' after president's unilateral decision on strait

A witness told an interviewer that countries in the region are "very still upset" after President Donald Trump's decision on the strait and said the United States has not presented a clear plan for how it will proceed.

The Questioner began by citing a Wall Street Journal report that the president might wind down the conflict without reopening the strait and asked what that would mean for the region. The Witness responded that regional partners are upset because "this is Donald Trump's world choice" and that the decision was made without seeking buy-in from affected countries.

"He didn't go to the region and say, this is what I'm gonna do. I want your buy in. Let's do this together," the Witness said. The Witness added that the president "decided arbitrarily and capriciously and by himself" and acted in coordination with Israel "without regard to others in the region."

The Witness said allies have repeatedly asked for a plan: "What is the plan? The long range, current and long range. And they have not articulated a plan to anyone." The Witness also said officials and other parts of the administration have sent conflicting signals, noting, "you hear contradictory messages from the president almost every day and or other parts of his government."

The Witness concluded that, on the evidence discussed in the exchange, "the president is out there on his own right now," and that neither the Witness nor regional partners have heard of a coordinated strategy. The interview included no claim that a formal plan exists or that any partner has endorsed a specific U.S. course of action.

The exchange ended without a presentation of a documented U.S. plan in the transcript; the Questioner posed the initial situational prompt and the Witness supplied the criticisms and concerns recorded here.