Now what? Trump extends Iran ceasefire with no clear endgame in sight

[0:00] On the 53rd day of Donald Trump's war in Iran, because that is exactly where we are, [0:04] and the president did hit the pause button once again. The two-week ceasefire between Iran and [0:10] the U.S. was set to expire tomorrow, and it seemed that all hopes for peace talks before that had [0:16] completely crumbled. So this afternoon, Trump announced that he will extend the ceasefire in a [0:21] social media post. He said that he made the decision because Iran's leadership is so fractured, [0:25] he wants to give them more time. Trump says the ceasefire will continue until Iran's proposal [0:31] is submitted and discussions are concluded one way or another. The U.S. blockade of Iranian ports will [0:37] also continue, but at this point, here's the thing. We still have not heard anything from Iran. And by [0:43] the way, this is now the sixth time that the president has extended the deadline for Iran to [0:49] avoid any attacks on its electric plants. All right, we've got a lot to get to, [0:53] so let's get smarter with the help of our leadoff panel. Jeff Mason joins us, Washington correspondent [0:57] and senior member of the White House team at Bloomberg. Sam Stein, managing editor for The [1:02] Bulwark and MSNOW political contributor, and retired four-star U.S. Army General Barry McCaffrey, [1:07] a decorated combat veteran of Vietnam and a former battlefield commander in the Persian Gulf. General, [1:13] what is your thoughts, your reaction to the ceasefire extension? Because we're still seeing some [1:19] American soldiers stopping and boarding ships. It's unclear to a lot of people what a ceasefire even [1:24] means. Yeah, well, I think it was the only option that President Trump had left to try and dial up [1:33] the war again after we've hit 13,000 military targets and have not achieved the submission of [1:39] the Iranian government would have been foolhardy. He has no domestic support for the war. We have [1:44] almost no allies in the global community. I think China is gloating over our misfortune. [1:51] The next options militarily would be to try and have the Marines seize islands at the Strait of Hormuz, [1:58] which they could do, to have the 82nd Airborne Assault, Karg Island, 400 miles up the Persian Gulf, [2:06] to have a division, try and establish a perimeter around Esfahan to seize, you know, 1,000 pounds of [2:16] HEU and five tons of other nuclear materials. All these are extremely perilous options and we're not [2:25] going to do them. So he's stuck. The Navy's got a very effective counter-blockade, a stranglehold in the [2:32] Iranian economy. They can probably put up a stiff fight for another economic fight for another [2:39] four to six months. Jeff, I want to know if this seemed strange to you, given how well you know [2:47] this president. He held an event at the White House today with a bunch of college athletes. [2:52] It was that he was there to talk about sport, sure. But he did not mention Iran. And it was only a few [2:59] minutes after he announced the extended ceasefire. How unusual is it that the president made no [3:05] mention? And since he didn't, what do you make of that? I thought it was striking. I think the [3:11] question is good. I mean, this president is somebody who at multiple times over the last six to seven [3:18] weeks, eight weeks, has started off his events at the White House, be they in the East Room or in the [3:25] Oval talking about the war and giving an update on the war. And right before this particular event, [3:31] he made a major announcement about the war and then didn't say anything about it. What I would read into [3:37] that is that he didn't want to be on camera contradicting what he has said multiple times over [3:43] the last few days, including in an interview with me on the phone yesterday when he said he did not [3:50] expect or it was unlikely that he would extend the ceasefire. And that's exactly what he did today. [3:56] So it's another mixed message. And yet it is in many ways, as the general was just saying, [4:04] the big option. I don't know if it was the only remaining option, but it was certainly a top option [4:11] for him, even if he didn't want to say that ahead of time, because he clearly wants to get out of this [4:17] war. And that's what he's been signaling for some time. And yet he also doesn't want to get a bad [4:23] deal. And that's what he said to me yesterday as well, that he was in no rush to get a deal because [4:29] he didn't want it to be a bad deal. And having a deal at all is core to President Trump's identity [4:35] as the dealmaker in chief. So that is also a high value for him here, even as he is giving these mixed [4:44] signals and turning around from what he had said yesterday and over the last few days about his [4:51] intentions.