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CNN  — 

There is always a tweet.

That has become accepted fact in the Trump presidency: For every pronouncement the President makes, there is at least one tweet from his past that directly contradicts his current view.

Which brings us to Iran.

In the past week, the Trump administration has significantly ramped up pressure on the country. First, the US ordered an aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 bombers into the Middle East – citing reports that Iran was putting short-range missiles on boats in the Persian Gulf. Then, came a report in The New York Times that national security adviser John Bolton had proposed one plan that would include sending 120,000 troops into the region in the event Iran continued to walk away from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a nuclear pact that Iran agreed to in 2015.

Asked about the troop proposal, which the Times made clear Trump had not yet seen, the President said this on Tuesday:

“Now would I do that? Absolutely. But we have not planned for that. Hopefully, we’re not going to have to plan for that, and if we did that, we’d send a hell of a lot more troops than that.”

Which is pretty remarkable! The President of the United States saying he would be willing to commit more than 120,000 troops to a war with Iran!

But not as remarkable as this flurry of tweets that private citizen Donald Trump sent back in the fall of 2012. Here we go!

“Now that Obama’s poll numbers are in tailspin – watch for him to launch a strike in Libya or Iran. He is desperate.”(10/9/12)

“Don’t let Obama play the Iran card in order to start a war in order to get elected–be careful Republicans!” (10/22/12)

He then followed those up the following year with these two tweets:

“Remember what I previously said–Obama will someday attack Iran in order to show how tough he is.” (9/23/13)

“Remember that I predicted a long time ago that President Obama will attack Iran because of his inability to negotiate properly-not skilled!” (11/10/13)

So……..

What would Trump 2012/2013 say Trump 2019 is, you know, doing here?

It’s probably worth noting at this point that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, appearing alongside Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Tuesday, said the situation in Iran was in a “downward spiral.” Pompeo, on the other hand, made clear that “we fundamentally do not seek a war with Iran.”

All of this back-and-forth may, ultimately, be sound and fury signifying nothing. A war with Iran – giving its location in the Middle East and its ties to Russia – would have both regional and global impacts that are not only dangerous to world stability but decidedly difficult to predict. And we know from Trump’s approach to North Korea that he can bluster without acting – and then pivot entirely and open up a conversation with a country that he appeared ready to go to war with just weeks (or even days) earlier.

What is instructive here – no matter what Trump ultimately decides to do in regards Iran – is that Trump is doing exactly what he warned Republicans Obama was doing in 2012 and 2013. He’s ramping up the rhetoric with Iran and talking tough. (“If they do anything, it will be a very bad mistake,” Trump said Monday. “If they do anything they will suffer greatly.”)

And he’s doing all of that even as the country’s attention turns to the 2020 campaign.