Opinion

GORDON SONDLAND: Stay the course with Iran, President Trump. It's like breaking a horse

Trump understands that if you ease off before the dynamic shifts, you don’t get a better deal — you get played

By Gordon Sondland Fox News

Published April 20, 2026 6:00am EDT

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Trump: US stopped Iranian ship attempting to breach Strait of Hormuz blockade

‘Fox Report’ panelists Ilan Berman and Behnam Ben Taleblu discuss reports that Iran rejected a second round of talks. Fox News senior foreign affairs correspondent Greg Palkot and correspondent Alex Hogan report.

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Getting Iran to capitulate is like breaking a wild horse. Anyone who’s done it — or even watched it done — knows how this goes. Calm one minute, violent the next. You get a step forward, then you lose half of it back. The horse is testing you — your patience, your resolve, your willingness to stay in the saddle when it tries to throw you.

That’s Iran.

And here’s the part the foreign policy commentariat still doesn’t get: Donald Trump actually understands this dynamic.

WHAT COMES NEXT IN THE IRAN WAR? WHAT THIS CEASEFIRE WILL AND WON'T DO

Not from theory. From instinct.

Iran is not a normal negotiating partner. It’s not even a unified one. Power is fragmented across clerics, politicians, intelligence services and, most importantly, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — a state within a state that answers to ideology, money and survival.

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And inside that system are hard-liners who don’t want a deal — period. These are people who would rather burn down the house than give up their nuclear potential, their offshore wealth and their grip on power. For them, compromise isn’t a concession. It’s extinction.

IRAN’S NUCLEAR GAMBLE LEAVES AMERICA ONE CHOICE — AND IT CAN'T BE A DEAL

So when I hear the usual noise — why the mixed signals, why the tough talk one day and restraint the next — I have to laugh. That critique assumes we’re dealing with rational, Western-style negotiators who respond to consistency and good-faith process.

We’re not.

What Trump is doing — whether people like his style or not — is exactly what this situation demands: pressure, pause, pressure again. Open a door, then make it very clear what happens if they try to game it. Keep them off balance. Keep them guessing. That’s not........

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