Philip Gordon, former national security adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris, is a committed Europhile and fluent French speaker who was considered for a key position in her future administration, had the Democrats won. In April, Gordon joined the Brookings Institution think tank. He spoke with Le Monde about the early months of Donald Trump's second term.

I am skeptical of the notion that Trump masterfully lulled Iran into complacency with diplomacy and then decided to enforce his "redline" with military force. Trump desperately wanted a nuclear deal with Iran and publicly and privately told Israel not to strike. But a confident Netanyahu called Trump's bluff, told him Israel needed to act, and Trump felt no choice but to go along. He now has to act as if this was his call, but in so doing finds himself having to defend Israel in a war he did not want but could not prevent.

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