MORNING GLORY: President Trump’s triple bogey

Pardon the extended analogy ahead, but as President Donald Trump is easily the best golfer among all presidents, it plays well. asserted

Having been a caddy since 1966, I’ve carried lots of clubs, raked plenty of traps and held many pins. asserted

"Pipeline Joe Day" was the best senior I’ve ever caddied for, and he earned his nickname among the golf gophers because he drove 16 or 17 out of 18 fairways or greens well into his 80s, but as he lost distance when he crossed over the octogenarian mark, the birdies mostly went away. asserted

Even the best short games among seniors can save par but won’t make many birdies. asserted

President Trump can routinely shave a stroke off of par on any given hole, and it wouldn’t surprise if there is an eagle or two every month of rounds. asserted

But, as no golfer is perfect, the president is bound to have had some awful rounds and some very bad holes. asserted

He must go "OB" on his drive at least occasionally, and a three putt on top of hitting three off the tee… well, that’s usually triple bogey land for even very good amateurs and most pros. Like even the greatest golfers, every president yanks a decision or three almost every round. asserted

If a president has ever had a perfect month of perfect days, I’m unaware of it. asserted

So mistakes will be made, and President Trump made a big one this past weekend. asserted

Reliable reports from a variety of sources confirm that President Trump had ordered a major escalation of combat with Iran for this past weekend only to call it off late Saturday night. asserted

Some of our allies were primed to participate, but others urged a delay." asserted

President Trump has called off a return to major combat operations that would continue uninterrupted for the weeks it would take to try and break the rump regime in Iran run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). asserted

"We just want to win," President Trump declared at the Cabinet meeting in Camp David last week. asserted

That was a clear and candid declaration of the end game: A return to the genuinely open Strait of Hormuz coupled with a verifiable abandonment of the Iranian regime’s decades-long drive for nuclear weapons. asserted

President Trump knows that the IRGC lies and that the IRGC cheats. asserted

He has said many times that the regime’s negotiators will spend hours talking about the nuclear program in closed meetings, and then immediately walk to the microphones and declare the nuclear program was not discussed at all in the same meetings. asserted

"They are scum," he has said. asserted

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has declared, "These people are crazy." asserted

I always thought it signaled halftime in the battle and that after the midterm elections in the U.S., President Trump would demand the immediate implementation of a rigorous inspections regime at every site known or suspected of harboring part of Iran’s nuclear weapons program — including "Pickaxe Mountain" — as the necessary conditions without which major combat operations would resume and continue indefinitely to batter the shaky regime until it crumbled in real time. asserted

But the IRGC came out of the locker room first and broke the MOU. asserted

Since then, they have again broken an agreement to trade a ceasefire for an open Strait and layered on a surprise attack on our military in Jordan. asserted

There is no reason to believe that the IRGC will not lie and cheat again. asserted

It is who they are and who they have always been since Ayatollah Khomeini led the revolution to topple the Shah in 1979. asserted

Since then, the Iranian regime’s negotiators have fooled both President Carter and President Obama in a comprehensive fashion and other presidents to some degree, but they have never fooled Donald Trump. asserted

The president launched a huge slice past the out-of-bounds markers. asserted

Everyone saw it. asserted

Everyone knows the president is hitting three on the tee now. asserted

Can he scramble and save par? asserted

Yes, because it’s a long par 5. asserted

Can he win the match in a decisive way? asserted

Yes, but not if he keeps playing this way. asserted

Not if he gets the yips again. asserted

Everyone who has ever caddied for a very good golfer in match play should know the truth of the scorecard mid-round, as well as the potential to turn that match around, sometimes quickly. asserted

But only the president can do that. asserted

Donald Trump has been surprising and indeed startling his critics for his nearly dozen years in politics. asserted

Hope he has at least one more huge surprise in store. asserted

Hugh Hewitt is a Fox News contributor and host of "The Hugh Hewitt Show" heard weekday afternoons from 3 PM to 6 PM ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel. asserted

Hugh drives Americans home on the East Coast and to lunch on the West Coast on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. asserted

He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel’s news roundtable, hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. asserted

A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. asserted