What are Trump's intentions for the Middle East?
Trump has spent his relatively brief political career as a critic of U.S. adventures across the Middle East.
"Let someone else fight over this long bloodstained sand," he said in October when announcing a drawback of American forces in Syria.
During a Thanksgiving visit, the president told American forces in Afghanistan he had restarted peace talks with the Taliban — having abandoned them a few months before — and that he hoped they might all be home to celebrate Thanksgiving next year at home.
At the same time, however, the United States has only scaled up its military deployments across the region, including with troops posted to Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in response to previous violence by Iran, including its attack on a major Saudi oil refinery.
Now American forces are on high alert poised to try to defend embassies, bases and other facilities from an Iranian response to Soleimani's death.
Does Trump have a road map to align the facts on the ground with his own aspirations?