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WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump sat behind the Resolute Desk as the evening of April 7 approached, ruminating about what might unfold in the next few hours.

He had vowed to wipe “a whole civilisation” off the map if his 8pm deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz had passed. As a series of unrelated meetings unfolded, Mr Trump would interject to list the number of bridges and power plants he was prepared to strike in Iran.

He was briefed about Iranians gathering on those bridges and in front of those power plants. He watched the images of people gathering around the structures on television, and told aides it would be the Iranian government’s fault if US forces struck and killed them.

He called Iranian leaders “evil” for putting innocent people in harm’s way.

Then in the middle of the afternoon in Washington, an encouraging message about an agreement taking shape was vetted by the White House and posted on social media by Pakistan’s prime minister.

Shortly after, an agreement that was hastily brokered by a series of mediating governments, including Pakistan and China, reached a president who was looking for a way out of a deeply unpopular war.

The victory lap started quickly: Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and General Dan Caine, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, declared on the morning of April 8 that all their military objectives had been achieved in what Mr Hegseth called “a historic and overwhelming victory on the battlefield”.

But less than a day afte...